Of Fur and Feathers
by YarningChick
Summary: When Haru returns to the town of her birth, she must come to terms with some demons from her family's past, and a love she can't deny.
1. Hope

This is my first attempt at a real crossover. If you don't at least have a good idea of what both The Cat Returns and Princess Tutu is about, this story will probably just confuse you. You have been warned.

**Chapter One: Hope**

There was an old man, all alone in his mechanical fortress. Save for a green-haired puppet child, but there were days when he regretted even that small comfort. He scowled angrily at the people through his mirrors, as they continued obliviously with their happy little existence. His only comfort was the sadness of the little duck and her knightly lover, and that of the prince's bride, the girl who still carried traces of raven's blood in her veins.

It was all just so unfair. After all these years of waiting for his chance to finish the story as tragically as possible, and yet there was hardly a sad face left in the village. _His _village.

Once again, he resumed pacing his extensive fortress, muttering angrily under his breath. "Traitorous boy," he snarled, glaring at the knight that had inherited his power. "It was _my _story, not yours! If you wanted something happier, you should have gone and written something for yourself!"

The boy couldn't hear him, though. Ever since the knight broke the machine the old man had built to continue writing his story, he could not contact anyone within the village's boundaries without being called on first. He was as helpless as… as…

Well, a duck.

"Are you mad, zura?" the puppet asked while beating her little drum lightly.

He sighed angrily as he moved into the tiny study that he had tucked away into a corner of his fortress. "Of course I am, Uzura!" he barked at the puppet, kicking life-sized mannequins out of the way so that he could collapse across a tacky orange couch. "Now what?" he muttered as he stared at the shelves of books.

The living doll shrugged, sat herself next to him, and continued playing with her drum.

The old man sighed, taking her toy away and chucking it over one shoulder. "Will you stop with that thing, Uzura?! I've been listening to it for nearly five years!"

She pouted a little and took out a bit of string to start making a cat's cradle with.

Drosselmeyer stared at the red thread between the girl's hands for a second, as his mind shuddered violently. Without warning, his eye trailed to one high dusty corner, one that rarely saw any light. The large golden orbs widened and he hurriedly hopped to his feet so that he could push the ladder into the corner, and climb up it. Once he had reached his destination, his large gloved hand shot out, and grabbed an old book with decades of dust on the faded leather cover. He blew on it to send a cloud of dust flying through the air. Then he took the end of his long red cape to rub vigorously at the golden letters of the title.

"Watcha doin, zura?" Uzura asked him curiously, but her question remained unanswered; he couldn't be bothered with her right now.

Sighing happily, the old man slid down the ladder, and propped himself into the orange couch again. He opened the book, and began reading. Shrugging, the puppet hopped onto his lap to silently read the story as well.

Before half of the story was read, she sighed in a depressed manner. "This is a sad story, zura."

"Exactly!" the man answered happily, letting his first piece return to him in its full glory.

Now _this _was a good tragedy! Those critics couldn't have possibly known what they were talking about. Now, more than ever, he regretted replacing this story with 'The Prince and the Raven'.

He sighed again, once he had finished reading the first story he had ever written. "I wonder whatever happened to her," he whispered to himself, holding the book to his chest.

Suddenly, his heart rate began to increase, a brilliant idea beginning to blossom in his mind. Praying that it wasn't too late, he ran back to the main part of his mechanical fortress and forced the looking glass to focus on a place that was far from Kinkan village.

His smile became almost grotesque at what he saw.

A young woman was sitting by her mother's deathbed, in a cold and sterile hospital.

"Promise… promise me you'll do it," the skeletal woman gasped, one bony hand clinging to her daughter's slim one.

The beautiful brunette's eyes were pained, as she leaned over the woman and kissed her brow. "I promise," she whispered with a hoarse voice. "I will finish what my… father started."

The older woman sighed in gratitude, leaned her head bad against the pillow, and died. Her daughter began shaking uncontrollably and gently laid her head over her mother's abdomen to start crying, a terrible choking sob that could melt the hardest of hearts.

"Wonderful, just wonderful," Drosselmeyer gloated before adjusting his mirror so that he could get a brief summary of everything that had happened to her since the last time he had seen the girl child. What he saw was more than enough to brighten his morbid mood.

"She went and did it?!" he guffawed, falling out of his rocking chair in order to laugh uproariously. "She really did fall in love with a cat?! An immortal one, on top of that?! Oh, this is so _delicious_! Thank you, my dear," he said gloatingly to the sobbing brunette, although she couldn't hear him. "I knew I could count on _you _to give me a good tragedy! Well, don't you fret, my pretty. _This _time, there are no critics to make me forget about you. Come, Uzura!" he commanded, jumping out of his seat.

Hurriedly, he returned to his study, and fetched out the spare paper and ink that he always kept for an emergency so that he could slam them on his table and pull up a chair. With inspiration he hadn't felt since he was alive, he began writing.

It wouldn't be able to do as much as if he were alive, but it would give his first story the nudge it needed to become real once more.

"What are you going to do, zura?" the puppet asked curiously.

"Isn't it obvious?! I'm going to make sure that _her _story ends the way it should. You were always my favorite, precious," he whispered to the girl in the mirror as his quill danced across the inky parchment into spidery scrawls. "I know _you'll _give me the tragedy that I deserve."

ooOoo

**Once upon a time, there was a little princess. From her earliest memories, she was the apple of her mother's eye, but her father treated her like a stranger, often forgetting her real name when he remembered that she existed. The little princess did everything she could to win his affection, but alas, he was never moved by her extensive efforts. **

**Finally, in desperation, the princess begged her father to tell her what she could do to make him love her. The king thought carefully on this, for although he did not care about the girl, his soul was too sincere to tell her what he did not, could not feel. In hopes that she would give up and leave him in peace, he told his young daughter, that if she became the greatest ballet dancer the world has ever seen, he would love her.**

**The princess wasted no time doubling her efforts in dance, and soon excelled above those who were in her age group. She practiced to the point of exhaustion every day and often had injuries from going too far, which worried her mother terribly. The queen begged her husband to tell their daughter, just once, that he was proud of her, that he loved her, but he couldn't speak what he did not feel, even for his beloved wife, whose heart slowly turned cold against him for his treatment of the princess.**

**The girl kept dancing through the years, and won much honor and fame for her unusual technique. But still her father kept silent, knowing that it would never be enough to awaken love for his only child.**

**But then, one day when the young princess was sixteen years old, her father was out traveling, trying to recover a family treasure that was stolen while his daughter was just a baby. His enemy delighted in seeing him alone, and ordered his minions to slaughter the king while he was alone in their clutches. **

**The father fought bravely, but in the end, he fell under their swords.**

**His daughter was devastated by his death, and for the love that she now knew would never come. In sorrow, she took her ballet shoes, her medals, and all her possessions that were related to dancing, and put them in boxes, far from her eyes. Although she loved ballet with all her heart, she swore that day that she would never dance again. For it reminded her too much of what would forever be denied to her.**

**For one whole year, she kept her word. She lost her natural grace, what little there was of her confidence, until she was but a shadow of the person she once was, and no one would have ever believed her to have once been a great dancer.**

**On the anniversary of her father's death, she was asked to break her vow, by one who didn't know of her terrible pain, pain she could not even talk about to her beloved mother. The princess tried to say no at first, but in the year to come, she would be grateful that she had consented to dance once again. **

**For in time, it would open a door to what she believed would be happiness at last.**

ooOoo

_The song had returned. There was a mournful quality to that voice, a pure soprano that could make stones weep. _

_The unseen singer let her voice sweep over all who could hear her, singing of love and sunshine, summer nights and glittering lakes; all sorts of things that could lift one's spirit, even as she sounded as though she wished to cry._

_Suddenly, the song stopped. A terrible silence fell over the darkness, which was soon replaced by a blood-chilling scream from the singer. _

"_NO! No please, don't take them away from me! Stay back! HELP! Someone, anyone, __**please**__!"_

_Her scream pierced the darkness again, lasting for several minutes. She begged for mercy repeatedly, but it was obviously not given._

_The worst part was when she began weeping, like everything good in her life had been stripped away, leaving her alone to the darkness._

The young woman having the nightmare was weeping herself, as she struggled to return to consciousness. Her blood red eyes opened slowly, and she laid the back of one hand against her sweaty forehead. She shook her head slightly, and sat up in the large canopied bed that she shared with her husband.

"Why?" she whispered softly to herself, tears still falling down her pale cheeks. "Why do I keep having that dream?"

This was the third night in a row that she had woken up crying over the nightmare.

The young man at her side murmured softly in his sleep, like he was having a nightmare of his own.

The raven-haired beauty smiled loving at him, and ran one gentle hand over his face and snow-white hair that fell over his head and across the pillow like swan feathers. The man smiled in his sleep, and sighed happily as he returned to slumber completely.

Once her husband was fully asleep again, the woman slowly got out of bed so that she wouldn't wake him up, and pulled a soft yellow robe over her nightdress so that she could walk to the balcony just out a giant glass-paned door.

She walked out onto it, and inhaled the fresh morning air lingeringly. As she often did while standing on this balcony, the red-eyed woman cast her eyes to the academy in the distance, barely visible through the forest that stood between the school she had attended years before and the newly constructed castle she now shared with her prince.

There were days when she was still terrified to wake up, to find out that he had chosen Tutu after all, and that she was still Kraehe, daughter and champion of the Monster Raven.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. No, those days were over, five years in the past. She had won her prince, her abusive 'father' was dead, and Tutu… Ahiru, really…

The dark-haired princess had to admit to herself, she had always loved the girl who was once her rival, and been privately injured when they had competed for the prince's affections. She had never had a real friend before meeting the excitable redhead, and if truth were to be told, she still had some problems with letting people other than her husband, his knight, and her first friend too close to her heart.

A few more tears fell down her face, but they were not from the dream. As the young woman rubbed the tears away with one sleeve of her robe, she heard a fluttering of wings, and a soft landing on the balcony she was leaning against.

She looked up, seeing a yellow duck panting right in front of her, short little wings hanging useless at her sides, since she had just flown from the lake below her balcony. The red-eyed woman beamed sadly at the bird, and carefully picked her up to share a gentle hug. "I was just thinking about you, Ahiru. Did you have the dream again, too?"

The little duck quacked sadly, nodding her head as tears filled her large sapphire eyes.

"Who do you think the singer is, Ahiru?" the black-haired woman asked thoughtfully, holding the duck with one hand so that she could hold her chin with the other. "Whoever it is, I wish I could help her. I don't know about you, but I can't take much more of her weeping every night."

The yellow bird quacked again, agreeing with her human companion.

The princess sighed, and held her friend close as she turned back to the room she shared with her husband. "Let's have an early breakfast, just you and me, okay?"

Ahiru nodded, but the tall princess knew that she was still troubled by something she couldn't say, thanks to her 'fowl' form.

Without warning, there was a violent banging on the door, one that the raven-haired beauty knew well.

"Mytho! Rue!" the knight called out, his tone strangely ecstatic, since he rarely lost his composure. "Can I come in?! It's important: good news!"

Her husband recognized the voice too, as he sat up in bed with a soft sulk on his face. He glanced once with golden eyes at his wife to be sure that she was decent, and smiled at the bird in her arms before calling out to the impatient knight. "Come in, Fakir, and it had better be good."

A tall youth with long spiky black hair, tied back into a low ponytail, threw open the door, a large piece of paper rolled up in his hand like a royal proclamation. His dark green eyes looked happier than Rue had seen them in years.

The small yellow duck in the princess's arms quacked happily, and flew out of them in order to make a beeline for the handsome young knight.

He smiled warmly at the little bird, and held out one hand to catch her and hold her against his chest in a caressing manner. "Just trust me, Mytho; this is the best news we've had since you defeated The Raven," the knight said with a large grin, using the name he had personally given the prince when he was still the royal's keeper.

"That's wonderful, but are we actually going to find out what this great news is?" the raven-haired princess teased him as she sat down next to her husband, and touched his hand.

"Take a good look at this," Fakir gloated, setting Ahiru on his shoulder so that he could unroll the long piece of paper in his hand, and hold it open for the royal couple to view.

Rue stared in amazement as Mytho's hand flinched noticeably underneath hers. She stood up from the bed in order to touch the poster. "Who is this girl?" she asked, taking the picture from him to study the young woman a little better. "She looks familiar."

The girl depicted in the poster was skinny, almost dangerously so, but her face was friendly, although slightly nervous, like she didn't like having her picture taken. She had huge brown eyes that seemed prone to daydream, with hair just a shade darker, and swept away from her face in a high ponytail. She was in a schoolgirl's uniform, but it was not a style Rue had ever seen before.

"Well, I _hope _she looks familiar. That, my friend, is none other than the daughter of Yoshioka Hasho," Fakir said with tears in his voice.

The black-haired woman gasped, almost dropping the poster in her shock. "But… I thought… his family was dead," she stammered.

"He apparently didn't talk about her a lot, at least while in the village," the knight said with a shrug. "The funny part about all this is that Charon says that I used to play with her as a toddler before her family moved away from the village. Her name's Haru, by the way."

"Haru," the princess whispered, holding the poster against her like a long-lost treasure. "It suits her."

The white-haired prince, however, looked less than thrilled. "Are you sure that's the right girl, Fakir?" he asked in a steady voice, although his heart was less than so.

"Oh yes, and even if she wasn't, I would get down on my knees and _beg _for your help in bringing her back to Kinkan Town."

Rue looked up at him sharply. "Why? Why would you want her to return, if not for my sake?" she asked almost defensively.

Fakir grinned again, and pointed to the duck on his shoulder, making her quack in confusion. "I didn't tell you the best part yet. About a year ago, she saved a cat prince's life, and was changed into a feline after a messenger mistakenly told the Cat King that she wanted to marry his son. Not only did she fight her way out of the marriage against impossible odds, but she found a way to become a human again. Neko-sensei's been sharing her story with the students for some time now, and it was pure chance that I overheard two of them while in the market yesterday. I'd have come sooner, but I had to break into the school to get the picture."

Mytho's breath came in sharply as he stood up from the bed. "Are you sure she changed from and to a human?!"

"Neko-sensei didn't have any pictures of her as a cat, but he was apparently very firm about the fact that she had changed species twice during her interactions with the Cat Kingdom," Fakir said firmly, smiling at the duck on his shoulder, who had become very silent, her sky blue eyes wide with shock, and just a spark of hope.

Rue's smile returned with a vengeance. "Then, she might know how to help Ahiru!"

"I don't know about you, but I know _I_ want to find out." The knight bowed low before the prince, with tears in his eyes. "Please, Mytho. Grant me permission to invite her to come back. I'll need your help to execute my plan."

"Wouldn't it be easier to send a royal invitation?" he asked in confusion.

"What, no!" Rue said with shock. "If she really got into a scrape like that with a cat prince, I doubt she'll want anything to do with _you_¸ at least at first."

"I agree with her," Fakir said quickly, still kneeling in front of Mytho. "Please. I already know how to bring her here without a hitch. There's so much good that can happen, if she returns to Kinkan Town."

The golden-eyed royal looked reluctantly at the poster in his beloved wife's arms, and sighed in defeat. _'Then why do I have such a bad feeling about this Haru?'_ "Do it. Bring her here, no matter what it takes."

The knight smiled brightly, an expression that still sometimes felt odd on him, and rose to his feet. "You wouldn't happen to have paper and ink on hand, would you?"


	2. Grief

**Chapter Two: Grief**

Haru watched numbly as her mother's coffin was lowered into the cold, unfeeling earth that had been prepared for her. The old man conducting the ceremony finished his sermon, and politely bowed out of the small grieving group.

The slim brunette forced herself to smile wanly as her mother's quilting friends expressed their sadness over her mother's departing, and mouthed words of gratitude for their concern. She really did appreciate that they had come to her mother's funeral, but deep down, she was still hurt that almost none of her own 'friends' had seen fit to sacrifice a Sunday afternoon to come, and those that had were staying out of sight for obvious reasons. Never mind the fact that she would have been more than happy to sacrifice more than that for her regular human friends, but it still hurt.

"Darling, would you like to come have lunch with us?" one of the older quilters asked the brunette, who moved closer to her mother's grave, now that the workers had finally finished piling dirt and sod over the coffin.

She brushed her short brown hair out of her matching eyes, and smiled thankfully. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'd like to stay with Mom a little longer," the young woman responded honestly, sitting on the ground next to her mother's small headstone at the head of the grave, the tiny granite block being the only one she had been able to afford.

The older woman sighed, and walked over to give the girl one more hug. "Remember to take care of yourself, Haru-chan. Don't disappoint your mother by falling to pieces when she leaves."

The slim brunette smiled wanly. "I won't. Thanks again for coming, Hashiki-sama."

Everyone left soon after, to move on with their lives.

Haru laughed sadly as she rubbed her mother's headstone with one hand. "It's always been that way, hasn't it, Mom? No matter who dies, or what terrible catastrophe happens, you need to move on with life, even if it hurts to do it." She sighed again, remembering all the times her mother had tried to tell her that while she was growing up. Too bad it had taken her so long to understand what her mother was saying. Gently, she placed an offering over the fresh earth. It was an almond branch tied with a black ribbon, only three perfect white blossoms present on the slender stem.

It may have been an unorthodox flower to place on her mother's grave, but Haru felt that it was appropriate, considering what she was planning to do in the near future. The tiny blossoms represented a hope that her mother had shared with her shortly before dying, and she had no intention of disappointing her mother's dying wish.

Without warning, something brushed against one of her legs, which was covered with a long black skirt. Haru looked down to see a huge white cat, with a single spot of brown on his left ear.

"Ya know, Chicky, it's a bad sign where you start talking to people who aren't there," the cat said dryly, although his small black eyes were a great deal softer than his voice.

"Leave her alone, you fatso," a crow snapped as he flew down from a nearby tree to land on the brunette's shoulder. "Now is not the time to crack jokes at her."

"Oh, I don't know," Haru giggled sadly. "A laugh or two would do me good, I think."

Another figure jumped out of the tree, and landed gracefully on his feet while straightening his top hat. He also made his way to the girl, but his pace was calm and controlled.

Haru gazed at him as he approached, her heart beginning its familiar somersaults in her chest.

To the ordinary eye, the third one to join her was merely a cat doll dressed like an old-fashioned gentleman, but the ordinary eye would have been wrong. He was a Creation, an object with a soul, like the crow currently perched on the slim girl's shoulder.

He tipped his hat at her sadly before allowing his slanted green eyes to trail to her mother's grave. "Not to be rude, Haru, but I was expecting a few more people to show up."

"Same here," she sighed, gently sweeping him off his feet so that she could wrap the gold and ivory feline into a careful embrace. "Oh well. Maybe it's for the best."

"How could it be for the best, Chicky?" the fat cat demanded angrily. "All your friends just up and left you alone after your mom kicked the bucket!"

"Not all, Muta. I've got you three," the girl said with a smile, wrapping one arm around him for a firm hug. "Thanks again for coming."

"No problem," the crow said, after the doll was unable to think of something suitable to say. "But it looks like it's going to rain soon, Haru. We should probably get you home."

The slim brunette sighed, and touched her mother's gravestone once before opening her shoulder bag invitingly. "Care for a ride, Baron?"

The Cat Creation slipped into it without a protest, although his miniscule hand touched her wrist once in a comforting gesture before he sat down comfortably on the soft hand-knit scarf that she had put in there to make his journey in her bag more pleasant.

She stood up while carefully shouldering the bag and bowed to her mother's grave once more as the crow flew off of her shoulder, so that people in the streets wouldn't stare at her.

Then she slowly made her way home, with Muta waddling at her side and Toto nonchalantly weaving in the air over her head, doing his best to seem like a random crow as Baron's body warmth soaked through the shoulder bag to seep into Haru's side.

She had never told anyone this, but she used to be terrified of birds, especially black ones. Her mother had shared the same fear, often taking to throwing rocks or anything else she could find at any bird that tried to get too close to her or her dark-haired daughter.

Haru giggled, remembering the shock on her mother's face when she had stopped her from throwing a hairdryer at Toto when he stopped by for a visit, explaining that the crow was a friend of hers.

It was probably for the best that he kept away from her mother after that incident. The older woman's hands always started twitching when she saw the crow, like it was all she could do to keep from throwing a good-sized rock at him anyway.

"What is amusing you, Haru?" Baron managed to whisper from her bag.

"Just reminiscing," she answered softly, crossing the street carefully. Unbidden, her mind wandered to another intersection, a year before. Although she hadn't thought that saving a random cat would change anything about her life, she was thankful that it had. If she had been forced to bury her mother without a single personal friend in attendance, she just might have decided to follow her mother into death.

Before she realized it, Haru was unlocking the front door to her home, rain drops already spotting the sidewalk and her black outfit at a slowly quickening pace. "Would all of you like to come in for a while?" she asked politely, the crow landing on her shoulder again. "It'd be a dry place to wait out the storm."

"Certainly," Baron answered from inside the bag, so she opened the door wide so that Muta could toddle in ahead of her.

She closed the door behind her, and carefully lowered her bag to the carpet so that Baron could climb out of it. He straightened after doing so, slightly adjusting his formal light grey suit jacket and matching top hat. His cane was in one hand at all times, a present that the slim brunette had given him after their little adventure into the Cat Kingdom. It always touched her to hear him say that it was his favorite cane, even if it was a simple one.

Toto flew off her shoulder to circle the room once, and then land on the carpet, since there was no wooden furniture for him to land on.

In fact, there wasn't any furniture, period. Haru had been forced to sell all of it, in order to pay the bills and her mother's funeral. She had even sold the house, to finish paying for her mother's medical bills. The slim brunette was debt-free, but in a week, she would also be homeless.

Perhaps it was for the best.

The sun set soon after they had arrived at her home, and the rain had increased to the point where it looked like one of the neighborhood kids was aiming a running hose at her windows.

"I never noticed how big this place was," Muta said after he had finished his tuna sandwich, looking around the living room, which he was used to seeing covered with quilt patches and scattered quilting equipment, almost all of which had been bought by the mother's generous fabric friends to help pay for the modest funeral.

"Me neither," Haru agreed as she sipped her tea blend, Baron doing the same from a metal thimble, since she had never owned or desired a doll house with accessories as a child. "If I didn't have to move out, it'd be perfect for warm-up exercises."

Baron twitched, looking at her sharply. "Do you have another residence lined up?"

"Don't need one," she answered, her stomach twisting uncomfortably. "I've been giving this a lot of thought, over the past week, but my mind's made up. I'm going to go back to my roots in Kinkan Town."

Toto started choking on his piece of toast. "K-Kinkan Town?! Are you insane?!"

"Quite possibly," Haru admitted as the two felines looked up at the crow, surprised to see him react like that.

"Toto-" Baron tried to ask, but he was cut off as his immortal friend continued to rant.

"Haru, please, drop the idea," the dark bird begged her as he stepped closer to the human and began patting her legs with his wings insistently. "You don't understand how dangerous it is there!"

Her eyes narrowed, and she reached up with one hand to pull hard on the neckline of her black dress, exposing one pale shoulder for his benefit. "Would you care to rephrase that, Toto?"

Baron stood up sharply with a hiss in his throat. "Who did that to you, Haru?!" he demanded.

"It was years ago, Baron," she said patiently, covering her shoulder again with the soft black fabric. "They were trying to stop my father from helping my little sister."

"_Sister_?!" Muta choked. "I thought you were an only child!"

"You were mistaken," Haru said softly as she rubbed her shoulders, both of which had faded scars, three long marks on the front, and one on the back from sharp talons. "She was beautiful, too. I was only a year old when she was taken, but I still remember her. We didn't even have time to name her."

"Who took your sister?" Baron asked intently, his slanted green eyes blazing with fury.

Haru exchanged a significant look with Toto, and sighed. She had forgotten almost everything about Kinkan Town, but her mother had become unusually talkative during the last hours of her life, probably thanks to all the expensive drugs the doctors were putting her on.

What her mother had to say, Haru would have called ridiculous or even impossible, if it weren't for her own few childhood memories of what had happened there, as well as her little adventure into the Cat Kingdom. "Baron, have you ever read 'The Prince and the Raven'?"

"Once or twice," he said carefully. "But how is that critical?"

"The story's true," the crow supplied, snapping his beak with disgust. "Kinkan Town is constantly plagued by raven raids, sent from the Monster Raven himself. Or at least it was, before the prince returned and destroyed him."

"He's destroyed?" Haru asked in a stunned tone, making the crow nod. "Well, then why are you trying to talk me out of going there?"

Toto gave her a haunted look. "That place is _cursed_, Haru. It's been that way for centuries because a-"

The doorbell suddenly cut him off, accenting the thunder outside.

Haru looked at the members of the Cat Bureau frantically, since she was certain that they didn't wish to be found by people that didn't need help. They caught the hint, Toto flying up the narrow staircase to her room as Baron slipped gracefully into the closet next to the door, Muta making a beeline for the kitchen.

Haru straightened out her dress as she rose to her feet, and walked toward the door. "I wonder who it could be," she said softly to herself, opening the door an inch so that the rain-soaked breeze could caress her face.

There were two people at her door, heavily covered with thick rain coats to protect them from the almost violent weather. One was a slender woman, and the other a bulky man.

"May I help you?" Haru asked politely as she widened the door gap, a little unnerved by the beautiful woman's scrutiny. Her heart beat fast twice, seeing the woman's red-brown eyes stare at her so familiarly.

"Yes," the woman almost panted as she looked at the teenage girl. "My name is Paulamoni, and this is my husband, Paulo. I'm an old friend of your mother's. Is she home?"

Haru bit her lip, since the name sounded vaguely familiar. "I'm afraid she died last week from an old family ailment, but why don't you come in and dry off?" she asked them, opening the door wide as she spoke.

"Thank you, Haru-chan," Paulamoni said gratefully as her husband helped her into the house by one arm. "It's not good for me to be out in the rain anyway. Naoko-chan _died_?" she suddenly asked in a stricken voice.

"I'm afraid so. Here, let me take your coats," she quickly offered, taking the soaking garments from them so that her mother's friends wouldn't see the Creation currently hiding in her closet.

Baron still looked like he wanted to talk to her, but with the two humans in her home, all the slim brunette could do was mouth a hasty 'I'm sorry,' at him before closing the door, allowing it to hang open an inch. "Would either of you care for some nice warm tea?"

"That sounds wonderful, dear," Paulamoni answered, her sad gaze traveling around the living room, one hand on her belly, which was noticeably swollen. Her dusty black hair caught the dim lights gracefully within its gentle curls, almost reminding the teenage girl of Lune's fur, or even her father's hair, although _his _hair had more of a violent curl than Paulamoni's. Her husband, on the other hand, was almost ordinary in comparison, with medium brown hair and bright blue eyes, which were warm and kind. He was also more fully built than his slim wife, making her wonder if he was a dancer or a backstage hand.

Haru bowed to her and her husband politely before making her way to the kitchen. "Sorry about the lack of furniture, but the carpet isn't so bad to sit on."

"We used to travel around in a caravan," Paulo said with a smile, helping his wife into a comfortable position on the soft carpet before sitting himself. "Believe me, there's no problem with the carpet."

She smiled back at him before turning back to the tall porcelain teapot, and pouring out two large mugs of the warm concoction. "I think I remember you two now. You used to drop by every now and again when I was a kid, didn't you? You were the one that loved dancing around as Princess Aurora."

"That's right," the older woman said as she accepted the tall mug gratefully, and inhaled the fumes before taking a sip. Even if her eyes became a little sad, almost like Haru's words had hurt her.

"Wow!" Paulo said happily, drinking from his mug as Haru sat across from them. "What kind of tea is this?" he asked a little too loudly, like he was trying to distract the teenage girl from something that was painful for his wife.

"My personal blend," Haru explained, stacking the Cat Bureau's dishes aside for now, since they had finished eating before the two showed up. She took another sip from her own teacup, studying the couple in front of her carefully.

Muta padded his way from the kitchen to sit next to her, since it was unlikely that the two humans knew she didn't have a cat.

There wasn't a graceful way for her to ask what their problem was, so she tried a different approach. "So, were you just hoping to stop by to surprise my mother?" the slim girl asked as she scratched one of the fat cat's ears.

"That's partially it," Paulamoni agreed, suddenly looking nervous. "But our main reason for coming here was to see you."

"Me?" Haru asked skeptically. "Well, what do you need?"

"That's the wrong question," Paulo laughed. "The real question is what do _you_need?"

The slim brunette looked at the older one. "I think that just went over my head," she admitted sheepishly, holding one hand to the back of her neck while laughing slightly. "Why don't you just tell me point blank what's going on?"

"Well, Haru-chan," Paulamoni said in a slow hesitant tone. "You've heard of Kinkan Academy, right?"

"Of course," the teenager scoffed. "It's the leading private school in the world to learn ballet, despite its remote location, and is extremely difficult to get into unless you were born and raised in Kinkan Town. Both of my parents studied there, and my father was a teacher there before my mother forced him to move here when I was still a toddler."

"Very good," Paulo said with a smile. "Well, today's your lucky day, Haru-chan."

"Is it?" the slimmer brunette asked in confusion.

"Yes," Paulamoni replied with a hesitant smile. "For, you see; it is our distinct pleasure to personally offer you the once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a full scholarship to study college-level ballet at Kinkan Academy."

A loud crashing sound came from the closet as the fat cat next to the brunette fell on his side, one eye twitching while his mouth dropped open in shock.


	3. Coincidences

**Chapter Three: Coincidences**

"What was that?!" Paulamoni asked in a panic as her husband quickly stood to his feet.

"Relax, I think one of your coats just fell off of the hanger," Haru said in a calming manner, giggling a little in hopes that they wouldn't investigate for themselves. Just to be on the safe side, she also stood up, and walked over to the closet in order to prove her point.

Indeed, Baron had accidentally pulled the hem of a long coat so hard that it had fallen over him.

Haru giggled a little, seeing him struggle within the wet folds before pulling the coat off of him. "I'm sorry, Baron, but this is something I need to do, no matter what Toto says," she whispered to him, nearly choking on the words before she straightened in order to carefully place the coat back on the hanger again. "See? You two are a little too tightly wound."

"Oh," Paulamoni said with a nervous giggle as the younger woman walked away from the closet again, her expression serious.

"But I have to ask; how did you know that I started dancing again?" Haru asked as she sat down next to Muta, and started rubbing his exposed belly.

"We didn't know you stopped," Paulo said slowly with confusion. "After all… you're a Yoshioka, aren't you? I doubt you could have stayed away from dancing for too long."

"I didn't dance for exactly a year," the slim brunette said softly as her toes began twitching in her socks, like they wanted her to jump to her feet immediately, and show them that despite her year-long fast from dancing, she hadn't lost her touch. Too bad her living room was too small a place to truly practice, even with the furniture and quilting implements gone for good.

Paulamoni gaped at her with shock. "How on earth did you keep from ballet for that long?" she whispered.

"It felt appropriate at the time, but…" Haru hesitated, since she didn't want to share too much of what had happened to her almost a year ago. "I met someone last year that helped me get my confidence back, and I've been dancing ever since. I'll tell you what; I may not be as good as whoever's in charge of the scholarships thinks I am, so how about we wait until morning when the local gym opens up? I'll show you what I can do, and then you two can decide if I'm worthy of the scholarship?"

"That sounds like a fair trade," Paulo said while turning to his wife with a gentle smile. "What do you think, honey? It sounds like a pretty good plan to me."

"Yes," his wife answered, rubbing her belly again, her eyes still a little distant with memories. "It's been a long day for us as well as you, Haru-chan. Well, we better go find a hotel, dear."

"I'd offer to let you stay in my mother's room, but there isn't a bed left in the entire house," the slim brunette said apologetically.

The couple looked at each other wordlessly.

"We have some sleeping mats out in the car," Paulo said carefully, his light blue eyes looking at the young girl questioningly.

Haru smiled a little. "You're welcome to stay here, if you wish. It's a little rough without any furniture, but at least I won't make you pay."

"Thank you, dear," Paulamoni said gratefully, her husband giving the young girl a warm smile as he made to go to the closet before Haru could stop him.

"I can get our things from the car- oh, what's this?" the bulky man asked as Haru just as suddenly ran to the closet.

But when Paulo turned to her after leaning down, all that was present in the middle-aged man's hand was an ordinary doll, even if it did resemble a cat.

"Oh, _that's _where he went," Haru said with false enthusiasm, gently taking the Creation from the older man to cradle the doll in one arm. "Sorry about leaving you in there, Baron," she told the doll before turning back to Paulamoni. "This doll's worth a lot to me, and I'd hate to lose him."

"Can I see?" the older woman asked curiously, her husband already out the door and into the howling weather outside.

The slim brunette nodded nervously, and sat down next to her in order to carefully pass Baron to her.

Paulamoni looked at him from all angles, her eyes widening in appreciation. "Oh, look at the detail," she whispered, touching the gloved hand that was held over the doll's chest. "This is the finest crafted doll I have ever seen."

"He's definitely one of a kind," Haru agreed, her eyes softening as she gazed at the Creation, her heart beginning its familiar rollercoaster ride.

"I bet he is," the woman laughed, returning the doll so that she could start rubbing Muta's fur. "So, tell me, Haru-chan; who is this special someone that you met last year? A boyfriend, perhaps?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Oh no," the younger girl said, her tone slightly regretful. "He knows I'd like him to be, but we're just good friends." She cradled Baron a little closer. If she hadn't known that he was in his wooden state, she could have sworn that he was trembling slightly.

"If you get the scholarship, won't you be sad to leave him?" Paulamoni asked with concern.

"Sad wouldn't begin to cover it, but after I explain why I need to do this, I think he'll understand." Her heart slowed down from the rollercoaster ride to flop around her stomach like a dying fish. She held the doll closer, wishing that she could be as small as him again, and maybe steal a real hug from him.

She didn't want to leave him, but even if her mother hadn't forced that promise out of her, the young girl knew that she would have to leave him anyway, if only for a while. There was no way she would be able to live in peace unless she fulfilled the mission her father had been trying to execute before he died.

"Will I be meeting him?" the darker brunette asked, making the cat snort in amusement between his contented purrs.

"I kind of doubt it," Haru admitted, her voice still becoming softer. "He likes to stay out of sight unless someone needs his help. Well, why don't I show you the room you'll be sleeping in?"

The ploy worked, mostly because Paulo came through the door again, his arms bulging with traveling bags. With a smile on her face, Haru showed them her mother's room, which was almost completely empty, save for a box of her mother's quilting work that she had managed to hold back from selling. After being assured that the two had already had dinner, Haru politely bowed out of their company, and began the lonely trek up the stairs, with Muta at her heels and Baron still in her arms.

As soon as her door closed, Baron's form immediately became soft and warm against her arm. "Well, Haru?" he asked in a slightly hurt tone. "What could be so important that you must return to Kinkan Town, even before this offer came to you?"

"Remember the sister I was just talking about?" she replied softly while setting him down. "Well, in ordinary raven attacks, the victims are usually torn apart on the spot, no matter who's present. My sister, on the other hand, was placed in my mother's basket while several other ravens kept me and my parents busy, hence my scars, and carried her off with Dad in hot pursuit. The neighbors thought that they were going to feed her heart to the Monster Raven, but my father became obsessed with the idea that his little girl was still alive. Every time he was able to save up enough money to return to Kinkan Town for a few weeks, he would go and search for the Raven's lair, to find out what had happened to my sister. Then, exactly a year before I met you three, he died under 'mysterious circumstances'."

"Can you be more specific, Haru?" Toto asked from his perch on her windowsill, his expression still wary.

"I wish I could, but Mom never gave me more details than that, no matter how much I begged her to. But just before she died, she told me that her deepest hope was that one day, her daughters would be reunited, and asked- no- _begged _me to promise that I would find out what happened, even if it was getting eaten by the Raven."

"That sounds risky, Chicky," Muta commented as he licked one paw and ran it over his face in thought.

"A little, but I gave my word, and I have every intention of honoring it." _'__**This **__time.' _"Mom gave her solemn oath to never return to Kinkan Town, but she gave me her blessing to go in her stead before dying."

Baron looked at her sadly, rubbing his cane softly with one miniscule gloved hand. "Is that the only reason you're going, Haru?" he asked softly.

"To be honest, not really," she admitted, sifting through the few clothes she had left in order to hunt for pajamas. "For the past week, I've been having nightmares about the day my sister was taken." She sighed sadly. "I remember how careful those ravens were with her, when they were taking her away. I don't know; I can't help but wonder if Dad was right, and she wasn't sacrificed to the Monster Raven. If I don't go back there and try to find out what happened to her, it will literally haunt me for the rest of my life. Besides," she added shyly. "If by some miracle, I can find my sister alive and whole… who knows? Maybe she's dying to know her family, and well… I'm all that's left of it."

"I see," Baron said almost sadly. He looked down at his feet as she excused herself from the room in order to change in the bathroom. It was still raining buckets outside and they would need to stay the night as well.

"I see," Muta repeated, mimicking the cat doll's aristocratic accent. "Is that all you're going to say, or aren't you going to fight for her?!"

"I _can't_," Baron replied in that same mournful tone. "I don't even have a real claim on her, you know that."

"You could, if you'd ever speak up and tell her how you feel," the fat cat snapped at him.

"Stop that, you idiot! You know there are too may barriers between them to make a relationship work," Toto scolded his mortal friend before looking sympathetically at Baron, who was staunchly refusing to look at either of them, choosing instead to study a pair of ice blue satin ballet slippers that Haru hung from a nail on the wall; her favorite pair.

At the moment, her _only_ pair.

He hated keeping this painful secret from her, but was somehow certain that if he ever confessed his love to her, she would never be able to move on and find some lucky mortal man to be by her side for the rest of her life. To prove how much he loved her, he kept silent, in hopes that she would be able to move on and receive the happiness that she deserved. After all, what kind of future could an immortal cat doll give to an ordinary human girl?

As things were, he knew for a fact that she hadn't gone on a single date since they met nearly a year before, or even spoken with a boy over anything more intimate than school notes.

That was something that really puzzled him. Haru was beautiful, talented, smart and sweet, and yet there was a definite lack of suitors for her. A small selfish corner of his soul delighted in this fact, but the rest of him couldn't help but wonder if there was something significantly wrong with all those boys she came in contact with on a daily basis. Oh, if only he could trade places with them…

Nonetheless, he knew what he had to do, for her own good. He wouldn't like it, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"… right, Baron?! Hey, Baron, are you listening?!"

The cat doll straightened noticeably, taking off his top hat in order to rub one gloved hand against his brow to combat a slight headache. "No, I'm afraid I wasn't. What was the question?"

Muta rolled his eyes from his strange wrestling position with Toto, whom he had apparently gotten into another fight with. "Did you ever stop spying on Haru when she's practicing ballet?" he asked in an irritated tone.

"I do _not _spy on her!" he said indignantly.

"Did you ever tell her that you watch her practice every day, without fail?" Toto asked, his black eyes almost pleading.

"Ah, well," the Cat Creation floundered, looking away from their eyes to study Haru's ballet slippers again. "I don't believe it ever came up," he said almost under his breath in a rush.

"Then technically, you've been spying on her ever since we got back from the Cat Kingdom!" Muta declared in a triumphant tone, making the dapper feline march over and slam one hand over his friend's giant mouth.

"If you don't mind," he hissed, casting fearful glances at the door. "She could return at any second. If you must insist on bringing this up, can it wait at least until we get back to the Refuge?"

Muta could hear Haru's footsteps returning to the door, so he immediately wiped the triumphant smirk off his face as the lovable brunette stepped into the room again, now in modest flannel pajamas. She couldn't quite bring herself to look at the Cat Creation as she made a soft bed for him and Muta out of a few spare blankets, and Toto didn't need anything besides her windowsill in order to sleep peacefully.

Haru managed a soft smile and goodnight at the trio before slipping between a few sheets laid directly on the ground on the opposite side of the room, along with the one quilt she had made, in an attempt to get interested in her mother's art.

After a few minutes, she thought that they had fallen asleep, since Muta's snores were akin to the thunder outside, and Toto's breathing had slowed considerably. But then a familiar hand gently touched her cheek. Her eyes shot open, to see Baron kneeling next to her head, a soft sad smile present.

"For the record, Haru; I think you'll get the scholarship. A chance like this, now of all times, cannot be mere coincidence."

She smiled a little, warmed by his confidence in her. "Thanks, Baron. Um, if I go, will I ever see you again?" she asked hesitantly, wishing with all her heart that she didn't need to leave him.

"It's a little chancy," he admitted. "But I hope that we will. May I beg a promise from you, Haru?"

She nodded.

The tawny immortal took a deep breath, wishing that he didn't need to do this. "If… you happen to meet someone that takes a liking to you, I'd like you to give him a chance."

The slim brunette flinched, like he had slapped her across the face.

"You're a wonderful woman, Haru," he said quickly, trying to erase the pain he was forcing her to feel. There was nothing he could do for his own pain. "But you don't deserve to be alone for the rest of your life. I want you to be happy."

Her eyes became very sad, and she almost started crying. "How about a counter-promise?" she asked with a shaky smile. "If I happen to meet a guy that can hold a candle to you, _and _happens to be interested, I'll give him a chance."

This time, Baron was the one to flinch. "That wasn't very fair, Haru."

"Neither was asking me to forget about you."

He sighed sadly, and patted her cheek again. "Touché. But please think about it. Even… if I wanted to… I couldn't give you what you need."

Haru closed her eyes as he walked back to the small bed she had made for him. "I know," she whispered, as the pain in her heart began to throb again. _'Dang it, why does he have to be so nice about liking me as just a friend?!'_


	4. Anguish

**Chapter Four: Anguish**

_The shadows were everywhere, flying around the small cottage almost like a cyclone around Haru's parents and herself. She could hear her mother scream from her place in bed, sweat still on her brow from giving birth to the beautiful little girl gently being loaded into the basket by two shadows._

"_NO!" her father yelled in desperation, harshly grabbing Haru by one arm, and throwing her into the shadows, which clawed and pecked at her angrily. "Take this one, but leave my baby alone!"_

"_No!" her mother screamed at him from her place in bed, grabbing a wooden bowl from the terrified midwife and tossing it at her husband's head for what he was trying to do. "She's our daughter too! Please, don't take this one from us," she sobbed as the shadows stopped attacking a sobbing Haru long enough for one of the shadows to pick her up by the shoulders, the razor-sharp talons biting deep into her flesh. The shadow then threw her back at her father, who collided against the wall before letting the dark-haired toddler fall to the ground at his feet. Without further ado, the shadows flew out the door with the crying basket in their claws._

_The tiny brunette knew that no matter how long she lived, she would never forget her little sister's cry. She looked up to stare at her father with tearing eyes, but he had already forgotten about her. Instead of seeing to her, he grabbed his sword in order to give chase to the shadows, his eyes livid with rage._

_Her mother was crying again, but this time it was with a broken heart. "We'll never see her again," she sobbed, her arms outstretched to the rejected daughter, whose leg was now lying at a funny angle from her father's refusal to catch her._

_Haru was crying as well, but she knew it wasn't just from her physical pain. A terrible echo began to fill the room with her father's voice, repeating the same dreadful words, over and over._

"_Why couldn't they have taken __**you**__?"_

Haru gasped as she suddenly sat up from her blankets, drenched in a cold sweat. She pressed one hand against her heart, which was beating wildly out of control. Her breath came in short pants as her brown eyes looked around her room. It was hardly recognizable, thanks to the fact that she had sold off just about everything she had owned. All that was left of her former life was a small duffel bag worth of clothes, and a medium-sized cardboard box of photo albums and smaller family treasures. Another box contained a collection of knick knacks from her younger years as a ballerina, mostly programs and pictures of her in fancy outfits. Her mother would happily pose with her, but her father…

Haru hurriedly shook her head, since she really was happier when she forgot that he ever existed. After all, that was the way he had always treated her.

The Cat Bureau was still asleep in their various positions on the other side of the room, but Haru knew that she would not be able to return to slumber. Sighing, she set aside her blankets, and fished around her duffel bag for her practicing outfit.

She had made it herself; using the small talent she had gained while working on the quilt she had just been wrapped up in. It was the only way she could think of to keep her shoulder scars covered while practicing ballet. The body suit was a soft ice blue that matched her pointe shoes, and had a graceful skirt that flowed over her hips like water. But the top front of the short dress was open to reveal a white peasant shirt underneath, the dress held over it with a thin black ribbon in the style of a corset. She smiled, and grabbed a pair of light grey tights to complete the look before quietly leaving the room for a shower, and to dress in the bathroom, carrying a thick black sweater and matching pants for when she and her two guests needed to walk to the gym.

Haru stayed in the shower a little too long, but she had taken to doing that, ever since the nightmare started haunting her nights. She let the hot water run over her a full five minutes after she was done rinsing her hair clean, willing the scalding liquid to take away the ice that was beginning to form over her heart.

"It's just not fair," she whispered a little later, toweling herself dry before brushing her short hair and dressing for her try at the scholarship. Unbidden by anything, her brown eyes glanced up to the small mirror over the sink.

What had caught her eye was the small bit of gold that was strapped around her neck, flashing slightly in the weak light. She smiled warmly, and put one hand over the charm.

It was a small golden fish, hanging from around her throat on a fine chain. It was the same one that she had worn in the ballroom when Baron had asked her to dance, but she had taken it off when they had fled the castle. Lune had somehow gotten a hold on it later, and had modified it a bit before presenting it to her a week after her little adventure to his kingdom.

Within the fish was a promise of aid, should she ever need it, and also a means of communication, if she ever wished to speak with the young Cat King and his queen. Outside of the weekly tea party at the Refuge, in any case. The fish pendant had felt huge and gaudy when wearing it as a cat, but as a human, it was now fine and delicate, something she would actually wear outside of a royal feline function.

In fact, she hadn't taken it off since Lune gave it to her almost a year ago, since the small charm reminded her that although she may not be as perfect as her father had demanded her to be, she was still someone important in their eyes. It gave her courage, and she needed a big dose of courage, now more than ever.

Even if she thought silver suited her better.

"Duty," Haru whispered, remembering her father's words, and her mother's before they had died, and left her alone. "If not out of love, then out of duty." She sighed and looked away from the mirror, hurriedly pulling her thick black sweater over her ballet outfit before the matching jeans, then slipping into a pair of blue slippers before heading down the stairs. Her nose was immediately assaulted by the smell of melting butter, and she could clearly hear the sizzling of what could only be sausages.

In a dream-like state, she floated past the living room to the small kitchen, where Paulo and Paulamoni were already up, and busy making a big breakfast.

"That smells amazing," she sighed happily, sneaking a peak at what was in the skillet, one of the few utensils she had been able to keep.

The tall dark-haired woman laughed at her, her ruby lips smiling widely. "It's the least we could do, since you let us stay here for free."

"Oh, we forgot to mention last night," Paulo added sheepishly as he squeezed an orange for its juice with his bare hands. "When you're dancing for us, I kind of need to be filming you."

Haru quirked an eyebrow at him while getting out plates and cups. "What for? I thought no technology was allowed in Kinkan Town."

"Prince Siegfried lifted the ban after returning to his post, but we try to make things look like we still have the bare necessities for appearances. As for the why, it's because it makes more sense to send live videos over the internet than to pay for all the contestants to come to Kinkan Town."

Haru looked at him, still puzzled. "How did you two get roped into this if you're part of a traveling caravan?" she asked curiously.

"Not anymore," Paulamoni said cheerfully as she divided the eggs and sausages between the three plates. "We're now teachers at Kinkan Academy. Anyway, most of the other contestants only received a letter, but you were nominated for the scholarship rather late. It was much faster to come here ourselves than to trust the postal service. Here you go!" she added while handing the young brunette a plate loaded with eggs and sausage.

Haru smiled happily, and started eating ravenously, since she hadn't had much of an appetite the day before. "Just wondering, but who nominated me?"

"The prince himself," Paulo told her with a huge grin. "He absolutely insisted that you be allowed to try for this honor."

The slim girl immediately stopped chewing, her eyes wide with horror as a bit of sausage sluggishly moved down her throat. "The… prince?" she whispered.

Paulamoni looked at her curiously, a bit of egg not quite to her mouth. "Is something wrong, Haru?"

The younger girl bit her lip nervously. "I know this sounds like a crazy question to ask, but is the prince single?" she asked in a rush.

"What? No," Paulo said with a shrug, eating his own breakfast. "He's been married to Princess Rue for the past five years."

"Do they love each other?" Haru asked almost desperately, since she did _not _want a repeat of last year, let alone a more scandalous variety.

"Oh my, yes," the taller woman giggled. "They absolutely adore each other."

"Good," Haru said with relief, the knot in her stomach untying itself as she drank her orange juice. Neither her nor her mother had been very good cooks, so most of their meals were usually accompanied by a _lot _of fresh vegetables, since they were almost impossible to mess up. She had to admit; she enjoyed the rare treat.

Muta started mewing at her while rubbing his ample body against her ankles, making her laugh and set her plate on the floor so that he could finish her breakfast, the two human guests also donating a bit of their breakfast for the fat feline.

After washing the dishes, Haru ran up to her room to grab her pointe shoes and the pass she needed to use the gym.

Baron and Toto were absent when she came into her room again.

She sighed sadly, grabbed the items she needed, plus a certain favorite CD of hers, and headed downstairs again. _'I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The conversation I had with Baron last night was a little awkward. Well, I hope I'll get a chance to say goodbye before leaving, with or without the scholarship.'_

Muta, at least, had the decency to meow a goodbye and lick her wrist affectionately before running down the street like a demon was after him.

"Are you sure about letting him out like that?" Paulamoni asked with concern as Haru locked her house up, and followed the couple into their car.

The slim brunette just laughed before giving them directions to the gym. "It's okay. Muta can take care of himself, and then some."

ooOoo

Haru had to admit to being a little nervous about performing for someone besides herself for the first time since the Cat Kingdom, let alone judges for her dream scholarship. She swallowed hard, stretching her limbs in the familiar gestures that were always a prelude to her ballet practice; already in her workout costume and pointe shoes strapped to her slender feet. Paulo was having some difficulty with the video camera, so his young wife was holding it between her hands, explaining something patiently in low tones so that Haru couldn't hear.

She giggled softly, since she had always been terrible with technology anyway. It would be a relief, not to be expected to know computer talk after arriving in Kinkan Town. The slim girl gave her left leg another good stretch, and tried again to forget about her nerves.

Suddenly, something light fell on her head, one hand catching it just before it fell to the floor. Curiously, Haru looked at the item.

It was a daisy, simple in its beauty. She looked up to see how it had fallen on her. Her mouth dropped open a little in amazement.

Baron was in a half-bent position on a small windowsill high above her, one that she had never noticed before. The expression on the Cat Creation's face clearly said that he hadn't meant to drop the flower on her. His slanted green eyes also looked a little scared, like he was worried that he wouldn't be welcome. Toto and Muta were also on the windowsill, but she couldn't see how or care why.

Haru beamed silently at them, and inhaled the scent from Baron's offering quietly, so that the couple behind her wouldn't take notice of the three new people in the room. _'How did he know my favorite flower?'_

He smiled with relief, and mouthed something to her. _"Good luck."_

The knot in her stomach immediately vanished. Baron had never seen her dance ballet before, so this was a great opportunity to show him what she could do.

She smiled up at the doll one more time before securing the daisy to the front of her ballet dress, weaving the stem between the mock-corset strings and slowly turning away so that she could walk toward Paulamoni. "There's a trigger on the side," she said softly, recognizing the model of video camera. "If you press it twice, it will record live videos instead of just taking pictures, if that's what the problem is."

Paulo looked up at her sheepishly. "Is that all?" He pressed the trigger twice before snapping a strange adapter to the side of the camera. "Okay, now we're live. Do you know what music you want to use, Haru?" he asked while pointing the camera at her.

The slim brunette nodded, and loaded her CD into the speaker she had persuaded the gym's owner to let her borrow for the occasion. She usually used an mp3 player, but that wouldn't work for a live video. Not to mention the fact that she had sold the mp3 player to help pay for her mother's funeral and hospital bills.

"All, right, I'll turn it on for you," Paulamoni said with a laugh, waving her hand to make the younger girl walk out to the middle of the gym, and breathe long and slow.

"Tell me when it's on, okay?" she asked Paulo, who only laughed as he kept the camera on her.

"It's already on, Haru. We can start whenever you're ready."

The slim girl locked eyes with the older one, and nodded significantly. Paulamoni smiled and pressed the play button, filling the room with Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Waltz.

An old habit of hers that had always annoyed her father was her tendency to close her eyes while dancing. Haru knew that she shouldn't, considering who would be watching, but the action was comforting to her. She raised her arms high in time to the music, and began to dance en pointe.

Her movements were slow and graceful at first, much like the bird that the music was named after. She twirled gracefully on one foot, her heart already beating happily in anticipation. After a minute, the music rose to a triumphant crescendo, just as she jumped high into the air, one leg in front of her in a perfect gesture.

After that, Haru forgot that anyone was in the room. For now, it just felt good to dance, whether or not anyone was watching her. The beautiful music pounded its rhythm within her blood, deafening her to all else, although she could have sworn that she heard someone exclaim something. Whenever music played, she sometimes felt like she was only a marionette, unable to help herself as some higher power manipulated her body to bend and twist in time to the classic melody.

The fourth time the music swelled, she bent low to the ground and catapulted herself ten feet into the air, twirling as her body did a full clockwise flip before she landed.

But not on her feet.

Haru instead caught herself perfectly with her hands, using the slight trace of cat that was still in her bloodstream to her advantage. Her body was as straight as an arrow, as she held herself upside down for a full second, lowering herself to the ground slightly to help absorb the impact. She then used her arms to catapult herself into the air again, a mere five feet so that she could land on her feet, and begin twirling on one foot again, oblivious to everything but the music.

After what felt like merely seconds, the music slowed, so Haru did the same, moving her limbs in time with the triumphant music into a strangely submissive gesture, nearly lying on the ground with one leg in front of her, both arms outstretched over it as her head bowed low.

Haru panted slightly, since her face was obscured from the camera, and a slight trace of sweat dotted her brow. Her heart pounded painfully, but she was used to that. _'How long is that piece, seven or eight minutes? Maybe I should have chosen something shorter.' _She looked up, wondering why the next track on the CD was playing if the older woman was watching the music player.

Paulo and Paulamoni were staring at her, completely speechless.

Haru blinked at them in confusion as she stood up again. "I'm sorry; I tend to lose focus on things when I dance. Is it the shut eyes that bothered you?"

The older woman flapped her jaw soundlessly, but a slight shake of the head said no.

Haru looked at Paulo, and giggled. "Is that thing still running?"

The older man blinked, and hurriedly shut it off. "Do… you usually dance like that?" he asked carefully.

"More or less, why? I know I have a long way to go," Haru said apologetically, holding one hand behind her head with a silly smile, since nothing could lift her spirits like dancing.

Well, there was one, but she wouldn't have access to him for much longer.

"Should I do it again with some different-?" she tried to ask, but then Paulamoni rushed at her, throwing her arms around the slim brunette's neck in order to hug her tightly.

"That was _beautiful_, Haru," she whispered softly as the younger girl nervously patted her on the back. "Just so you know; if you're not chosen, it's because you're too good to go to an academy for further instruction. You could start with a company right now, if you really wanted to."

"No thanks," Haru said cheerfully, sneaking a glance at the windowsill from the corner of her eye. "I want to teach ballet, not go on the big stage again." _'Besides, I have some unfinished family business to take care of before I pursue a career.'_

Muta and Toto looked as dumbfounded as the human couple, but Baron was smiling widely, though a little sadly, and there were actual tears flowing down his face. He applauded silently, his green eyes never straying from her.

"_Thank you," _she mouthed at him, thrilled that he had gotten to see her dance at least once before she left for Kinkan Town, with or without the scholarship.


	5. Longing

**Chapter Five: Longing**

After videotaping Haru for the scholarship trials, Paulamoni had insisted on visiting her mother's grave to pay her respects. Haru didn't mind taking the sidetrack back to her house, since there was hardly anything left that remained of her home.

The older woman knelt next to Naoko's grave, and gently touched the small grave marker. "I always looked up to her, you know," she informed Haru, who was standing a few feet away with Paulo. "She was always so good and patient with everyone."

"But I think she took it to extremes with your father," Paulo almost growled, his blue eyes turning dark and stormy.

Haru nodded, not trusting herself to actually say anything about the man that was still a stranger to her, despite all her efforts to the contrary.

Paulamoni sighed, and rubbed the grave marker one more time. "Well, don't you worry about Haru, Naoko. Even if by some miracle she _doesn't _get the scholarship to Kinkan Academy, I'll make sure she has a place to go."

"I'm going to Kinkan Town either way," Haru informed her firmly. "I was actually planning on hitchhiking there before you two showed up."

Paulo glanced down at her and grinned. "Family roots calling to you?"

"You could say that," she answered, her heart doing somersaults as she watched Baron's shadow from the tree over the taller man's shoulder. She sighed again, praying that she was doing the right thing.

The walk home was fairly uneventful, and Muta was waiting for them on her front step, casually licking an arm like he had never left. Haru ran her hand over his wispy fur once before opening the front door.

Paulo immediately but gently dragged his expecting wife to the room they were staying in, in order to upload the video of her onto their laptop and send it to whoever it was in Kinkan Town that made the final decision concerning the scholarship. Haru took a deep breath of relief, not all that concerned about whether or not she got it. Paulamoni and Paulo would still return to Kinkan Town, and it wouldn't take much to convince them to let her tag along and find a job on her own to support living there until she found what she was looking for.

Muta followed her into the kitchen and watched her set the music player on the counter and change out the CD before hitting the play button. Once the house was filled softly with music, she started pulling out vegetables to make salad for lunch.

"Since when could you dance like _that_, Chicky?!" the fat cat demanded in a whisper, nervously looking over one shoulder to be sure that the human couple couldn't hear him.

"What's wrong with the way I dance?" she asked curiously as she chopped the lettuce.

"Well, nothing's really wrong, but… it's scary."

She looked down at him, and stopped chopping so that she could kneel to be on a closer level with her feline friend. "Why is it scary, Muta?"

He looked at her, biting his lip like he wasn't quite sure what to say. "Well…"

"Come on," she giggled, scratching his brown ear to help him relax. "I can handle any criticism you throw at me. Heck, I encourage it, so that I can get better. Just say what you think."

He took a deep breath. "When… you dance like that… it's like you're not you, anymore," he said haltingly, searching for the right words to use. "Well, obviously it's you, but it's not the you I know."

Slightly confused with his statement, she quirked an eyebrow. "You mean, like split personality disorder?"

"Yeah, something like that. No offense, Chicky, but you're pretty modest, and you don't really like attention. But when you dance, at least like that, you become a bit of a show-off. It's one thing to dance, but it's another to pull off all those stunts within ten minutes."

"It was closer to eight," she replied while flushing slightly, sitting on the tiled floor next to him, so that she could rub his fur more comfortably. "So, you don't think my dancing looks like me?"

"Yeah, that's it! You were trying a little too hard, Chicky, if you were trying to impress us." He looked at her slyly between his purrs. "Or was it Baron you were trying to impress?"

"No," Haru replied slowly, grabbing the fat cat from around his middle so that she could drag him onto her lap. "He's not the one I was trying to impress."

Muta looked up at her curiously, and patted her arm a little. "Then who was it?"

She looked down at him, and sighed. "I guess it was my father. He was a little hard to please, or at least he was for me. Did you know that he was nicknamed the Ballet King in Kinkan Town?"

The cat shook his head slowly.

"Well, he was." Haru sighed sadly, and gave Muta one more squeeze before pushing him off her lap. "He… he wanted me to be the best, so I trained to be the best, ever since I was finally old enough to start dancing. It was never enough for him, though. He never really offered encouragement, just pointed out my flaws. But you're right," she added fiercely, kissing the cat's forehead. "He's gone, and I should start dancing like me instead of trying to impress a dead man that refuses to be impressed."

"Atta girl," he grunted, licking her wrist as she stood up so that she could wash her and finish making the salad.

"What… did Baron think?" she asked carefully while slicing the tomatoes.

Muta took a second to answer her. "He liked it, but to be honest, I think he feels the same way I do. Hey, do you remember when you danced with him in the Cat Kingdom?" he suddenly asked.

Haru looked down at him and smiled gently, since it was a ridiculous question. Of course she remembered. "I thought you were still suspended in catnip jelly when we did that."

"I was, but I could still see what was going on. I was really touched that you made such a fuss when you thought I was dead. Back to the point, you looked a lot more like yourself when you danced with Baron last year than when you danced two hours ago."

She smiled softly as her mind traveled once again to that incredible night she spent avoiding a marriage into the royal cat family. "Yeah, that felt more real. I kind of wish that you had told me this before we did the video, so that I could have danced a little more like myself." She shrugged, and returned to her vegetables. "Oh well, it's not like you knew beforehand what I was going to do."

The fat cat nodded, grimacing slightly now that her back was turned. "Baron, on the other hand," he grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" she asked, looking down at him curiously.

He stiffened, and smiled a little at her. "Nothing, Chicky. I just think that Baron should have told you."

Her heart began to pitter patter unsteadily in her chest. "Well, we can't always have what we want," she said evasively, furiously scrubbing at a stalk of celery with her bare hands to help take her mind off their last conversation.

Muta looked at her while sighing sadly. "No. I guess we can't. Hey, could you open that window for me? I should be getting back to my post as the Crossroad."

Haru nodded, opening the window over the sink before picking up the fat cat with difficulty, and setting him on the counter so that he could scamper out.

"Don't forget to say goodbye, Chicky," he whispered, licking her wrist one more time before disappearing out the window.

She made to shut it after him, but then decided to leave it open, since the slight breeze was refreshing.

ooOoo

Muta glared at the Cat Creation as he hopped off the windowsill, since the doll was currently hiding just underneath the window, on a conveniently placed bush. But he didn't say a word, since the lovable brunette was still within earshot.

Baron held his hands up defensively, but his fat friend wasn't buying it, already going at a dead run down the lawn and to one side of the sidewalk. He sighed, and leaned back on the comfortable bush, listening to the girl inside the house move around inside her home, and her music washing over him like a wave of melancholy.

Yes. He _should _have been the one to tell Haru what was wrong with her dancing style, but that would have necessitated telling her that he had been - he _refused _to use the word 'spy'- **observing** her ever since they had returned from the Cat Kingdom.

Baron had known she was lying, when she tried to tell him that she was a 'meowsy' dancer, and it wasn't until he heard the whispered mention of her father in the cemetery that he figured out just why she had tried to hide herself. One fist clenched tightly over his cane, trying to imagine a father that could possibly not be grateful to have a daughter like Haru.

He wouldn't mind having a few himself. The notion of having several small children with Haru's features calling him 'Father' was very-

"Stop that,"he whispered harshly to himself, angrily kicking at a leaf near one of his feet.

Creations didn't have offspring, even if they happened to be made with or eventually receive a mate. They were not meant to have a family, only to observe on the world that they had been born on.

Even that was optional.

That was the problem with being a Creation, Baron decided as he listened to the slim brunette step lightly around her kitchen and turn on the oven.

Creations had a body and soul, but they did not have all of the duties that plagued humans, or even animals, for that matter. When they ate, it was for entertainment, when they decided to help other people, they could go ahead and do it, often concealing their true nature while doing so, in order to keep their freedom.

All that a Creation would ever really need is a comfortable place to call home, and that was the Refuge.

Baron resented it. But as much as he did, he could never bring himself to blame the youthful toymaker's apprentice that had given him life, since the lad had been shocked beyond words when Baron shifted into a form of flesh for the first time. In fact, the young apprentice had instinctively known that the following decades would be very lonely ones for Baron, and had started working on a mate for him.

She was never finished, since his creator was killed by a drunkard one dark night before he had even finished carving her fair form. But Baron knew better than to complain, since he was lucky just to have kept away from the ones that raided his creator's shop, and had somehow managed to make his way to the Refuge without getting caught or sold again.

It wasn't bad, being a Creation. But sometimes, even before he had met Haru, he would sit back and wish that there could be more to his life. That was why he had started the Cat Bureau, to help other people with their problems. Hardly anyone could find out about it, since most humans weren't equipped to handle dealing with talking dolls and statues, so he had often wondered why he had bothered, as the years slipped by.

Now he knew it was for Haru. He wasn't quite sure why, but the sweet young woman had answered some deep need in him from the moment he first saw her enter the Refuge. His heart pounded again, reminding him in strong terms just why he was currently sitting outside her window.

"Foolishness," he muttered under his breath, straightening a little in preparation to leave. Haru would be gone within a week, and the chances of seeing her again were almost nonexistent. He needed to get off his growing addiction to her presence, while he still had time to adjust to a life without spying-_ observing_- her.

His movements stopped cold as he heard Haru start to sing along with the current song. It was pitched for a lower voice than hers, but she obviously didn't care.

"_I am here to tell you we can never meet again. Simple really, isn't it? A word or two and then a lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when you think of me, or speak of me, or wonder what befell the someone you once loved so long ago, so well._"

Baron started mouthing the man's part before he could stop himself, being familiar with the sad song. "_Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by. You don't have to ask me, and I need not reply. Every moment of my life from now until I die, I will think or dream of you and fail to understand how a perfect love can be confounded out of hand._"

They started singing the next lines together, although Haru still couldn't hear Baron's tearful whispers.

"_Is it written in the stars, are we paying for some crime? Is that all that we are good for, just a stretch of mortal time? Is this God's experiment, in which we have no say? In which we're given paradise, but only for a day?_"

'_It feels far less than that,' _Baron concluded as he continued singing softly, pouring his heart out to the girl that he couldn't bring himself to be honest with. "_Nothing can be altered, there is nothing to decide. No escape, no change of heart, no anyplace to hide._"

"_You are all I'll ever want, but this I am denied_," Haru replied, her untrained yet perfect voice beginning to quake painfully. "_Sometimes in my darkest thoughts… I wish I'd never learned-_"

"_What it is to be in love, and have that love returned_," Baron sang with her, although she choked on a sob halfway through the line, and dropped something heavy and metal on the ground.

He instinctively made to jump onto the windowsill, just stopping himself as Haru slowly slid down something wooden, perhaps a cabinet door, and huddled on the floor, trying to stifle her sobs as the chorus rang out without hers or Baron's assistance.

He braced one gloved hand against the wall separating them, his head bowed low as he struggled not to cry himself. "I'm so sorry, Haru," he whispered hoarsely, hating himself for what he was doing to her. _For _her. "You deserve someone so much finer than I. I hope you'll find him someday," he added half-sincerely, since he still didn't want to let go of her, let alone give her to someone more deserving.

Before he could be tempted to reveal himself in order to comfort her, he hopped down from the bush, and began walking down an unseen path from her house to his, one that kept him from the world's view. It was well-worn, since the Cat Creation had taken to checking on the brunette while she was at home at least once a day, ever since they met.

As he forced himself to walk away, the chorus called out again from behind, almost mocking him.

"_Is this God's experiment, in which we have no say? In which we're given paradise, but __**only**__ for… a day?"_

ooOoo

The idea to use 'Written in the Stars' for this story, or more specifically for Baron and Haru's longing for a real relationship, was kindly donated by Icefyre. Thanks again, you rock!


	6. Regret

Merry Christmas!

**Chapter Six: Regret**

Five days after her mother's funeral, Haru locked up the house for the last time, and handed the keys to the old realtor that had helped her sell it.

He smiled at her while pocketing the keys, bowing respectfully. "Good luck, whatever life brings you," he rasped with a dry voice at the girl, who bowed thankfully before walking down the concrete pathway for the last time, her heart as heavy as lead.

She remembered how long it had taken to cut down the cattails after the Cat King had filled the lawn with them. It was a good thing that she was no longer allergic to cattails, since her mother's allergies were worse than her own used to be.

Paulamoni was smiling sympathetically at her from the passenger's side of the car as Haru opened the door behind her, and let herself into the car.

"Are we finished here?" Paulo asked gently as she strapped on the seat belt. The girl nodded, her eyes glued to a shady corner of her old home.

She had already said her goodbyes to the Cat Bureau, along with the young Cat King, Lune, and his queen, Yuki, at their weekly tea party at Baron's home. But that hadn't stopped them from sticking around long enough to see her off. Toto was perched on a tree close to where Muta was currently sitting, his expression pained as he mouthed 'Come back someday.'

Haru nodded, and looked at the tree again. Sure enough, Baron was sitting on a limb almost entirely obscured by the green leaves. His expression made her want to jump out of the car, and scream that she was staying, but she couldn't, now. She had accepted the scholarship, and now she needed to follow through.

"_I love you_," she mouthed at him, pressing two fingers against her lips and blowing a kiss at him as Paulo turned on the car, and drove away. Haru turned in her seat to keep them in her sight for as long as possible, but Paulo soon turned a corner, and left the Cat Bureau in her past.

"I'm still a little shocked that you decided not to take Muta, Haru," Paulamoni said while passing back a book to keep the brunette occupied during the trip.

"He was more my crush's cat than mine, anyway," was all the younger girl could think to say, moving one of her boxes so that it would stop digging into her ribs. There had been just enough room for her and their luggage, but that was it. "Muta just liked dropping by a lot."

"We noticed," Paulo said dryly as heavier traffic began to surround the car. "I still wish we could have met this mysterious crush of yours."

Haru sighed sadly. "Sometimes, we don't always get what we wish for." _'I should know that better than anyone. I sure hope my sister appreciates what I'm giving up for her. That is, if she doesn't have an attitude like Dad's, and is still alive for me to find her.'_

A painful stab shot through her heart again, making her grab the front of her shirt and struggle to keep the tears at bay. _'Duty. If not out of love, then out of duty.'_

ooOoo

Baron watched the minivan disappear around the corner, his heart as heavy as lead.

"Well, there she goes on her grand quest," Toto said sadly.

"And there goes your chance to tell her the truth," Muta said angrily to the Cat Creation before waddling into the underbrush. "I still say you should have taken it while you had the chance."

"Not now, Pork Chop!" the crow snapped at him, looking at his oldest friend. He preened one wing nervously. "I could probably catch up to them, if you wanted to-"

"No," Baron interrupted, looking away from the crow as he hopped down from the branch while the realtor's back was still turned. _'I've been holding her back for too long. She's earned a little bit of happiness, and I can't give her that without ruining her. I hate my life.'_

ooOoo

Haru hadn't been to Kinkan Town since she was a year old, but had done occasional personal studies on the large island that the town resided on. It was a fairly substantial island, complete with lakes and mountains, which would explain why it still had a reigning monarch.

But what Haru never figured out was why no one ever thought to take over the tiny country and turn it into a tourist attraction. After all, the island had been inhabited for a few hundred years, surely _someone _would have tried to take it over by now. Or if they had managed to take over, how did the island regain its independence? Doing studies on the island were always a little tough, since most geography books refused to admit to its existence.

She decided to ask Paulamoni about it, a few days after they had driven away from her home in Tokyo. The car had been a rental, so Paulo hadn't needed to try loading it onto the medium-sized boat, which didn't even look like it was motorized. Great white sails billowed with the wind, sending the boat smoothly across the water to the island of her birth.

"Paulamoni?" Haru asked while helping the woman make dinner at sunset. "How is it that Kinkan Island's never been taken over by an outside country?"

The woman's hands twitched noticeably, and the darker brunette looked at the younger one carefully. "How much do you remember of the island?"

"Almost nothing. I know I used to live in a cottage with Mom and Dad in Kinkan Town, but that's about it."

Paulamoni bit her lip, and turned back to the stir-fry cooking on the tiny stove. "Haru… what I'm about to say is going to sound a little crazy, but just bear with me. Things on that island aren't the way they are on the mainland. There are certain rules that are effective there that have little meaning elsewhere."

Haru quirked an eyebrow. "Magic, you mean?"

The woman looked at her sharply again, and laughed a little. "Yes, actually. The first prince to reign there set up a spell to cloak the island in mists. Only those who mean no harm are allowed to come close to the island."

Haru put one fist to her chin. "That's actually a pretty good idea. How come the reigning monarch is called a prince instead of a king?"

"Prince Siegfried is a good ruler, very modest. We could coronate him anytime he decides to take the title, but he's not in a hurry. He does a fine job without the bigger crown, and he is well loved by the people. I think you'll like him."

Haru had to laugh at that. "I don't think whether or not I like the prince is going to be all that big of an issue. I doubt that I'm going to have a lot of time getting to know royalty between classes."

Paulamoni twitched, very slightly, and looked at the teenage girl almost fearfully. "You act so strange when I talk about the prince, Haru."

Haru twitched a little and looked away to avoid her gaze. "Sorry."

She wanted to elaborate on that, but what could she say? Last time she met a prince, she was nearly forced to marry him? Obviously, that wasn't going to happen with this prince, but… if he didn't want _that_ from her, then why did he recommend her for the scholarship out of the blue?

Baron had been right, as usual. This sudden stroke of luck couldn't have been mere coincidence.

She sighed again, and took a plateful of stir-fry to Paulo, also taking a turn at the wheel so that he could eat. She stared out into the dark ocean, contemplating all the unanswered questions.

"You're scared, aren't you?" the man asked her out of the blue as he finished his dinner.

Haru flinched, and smiled a little guiltily. "Is it that obvious?" she asked while attempting a light-hearted giggle.

Paulo nodded, but he seemed a little grim as he looked at her. "You know, there's nothing left to fear on the island. It's perfectly safe."

"That wasn't what I was thinking of," the teenager said softly, rubbing the small helm nervously with her thumbs. "Do you… know what my father was trying to do, when he was killed?"

He stiffened as well, more so than Haru was expecting him to. "Yes," he said flatly.

"Well, I'm going to finish it, one way or another."

Paulo bit his lip nervously. "Does it mean so much to you?"

Haru nodded. "I'll sacrifice my soul if I have to. Besides, wouldn't it be divine justice for _me _to find what absorbed so much of _his_ life?"

He laughed a little evilly. "It would be, wouldn't it?" He sighed, and stood up to take command of the wheel again. "But don't let it absorb your life like it did your father's."

"I have less to lose than he did," she answered grimly, another sharp pain shooting through her heart. "I don't even have a sweetheart to miss me. As long as I can keep my grades up, no one will care what I do."

"_I'll _care, and so will Paulamoni," he said firmly, adjusting course slightly. "Don't think that because…"

"I'm all alone in the world?" she offered sadly after the man struggled to find the right words for a moment.

"… that you can go and throw yourself into danger just to prove a point to a dead man," he finished in a semi-firm tone.

Haru had to laugh at that, bracing herself against the side of the boat to help her keep her balance. "Like I need that big of a reason to throw myself into danger."

"What was that?" he asked suspiciously, making her giggles stop cold.

"Nothing, just that… I've got a knack for getting into all sorts of trouble. It saves me the effort of going and looking for it. I'm going to go have dinner now, and I'm going to take over steering when I get back. You've been driving both the car and the boat all day, and you're exhausted."

"But you don't know how to land the boat!" Paulo's objection was punctured by a large yawn.

"I'll wake you up after you get a couple hours of sleep. I got to sleep in the car, so I'm good for a while. I'll be back in a few minutes." She grabbed his dirty dishes and made to go into the cabin again, but then the man reached out suddenly, grabbing her by the wrist.

While she let out a surprised yelp, he quickly drew her in for a tender one-armed hug.

"I've never been able to understand your father," he whispered tearfully in her ear. "I hope when my daughter is born, she will grow up to be something like you."

"But without the mental issues?" she asked with a wan smile, even as a blush spread across her fair cheeks.

No one had ever given her a compliment like that before, at least to her face.

"With or without them." He smiled warmly, and kissed her forehead before letting her go below deck. "You're a good girl, Haru, and don't let anyone tell you differently."

"No, sir," she said with a smile, saluting him like a sailor before going below deck for her own meal. Randomly, she kissed Paulamoni on the cheek, and started eating the plate the older woman had prepared for her. "I can see why you chose your husband. He's pretty cool."

The black-haired woman laughed warmly. "I've always thought so, but thank you."

ooOoo

A few hours later, Paulo and his pregnant wife were attempting sleep in the cabin while Haru was behind the wheel on deck.

"She's a good girl," the man whispered to his wife, certain that the waves crashing against the sides of the boat would muffle their voices from the teenager just over their heads.

Paulamoni sighed, although her red-brown eyes were troubled. "Honey, do you think the stories about her are true? I'd love to ask-"

"But we can't, remember? Prince Siegfried ordered us not to give her a clue that we know she's more than what she seems."

"She gets prickly about princes, so there's a chance that it's true," the black-haired woman said a little excitedly. "Why do you think he wanted her to come to Kinkan Town so badly?"

"Who knows? Let's just trust the prince, love. Maybe he needs a little rescuing of his own."


	7. Shock

**Chapter Seven: Shock**

_A twelve-year-old girl finished twirling on the stage, the frothy folds of her periwinkle dress flowing around her legs like a waterfall. She bowed low to the three judges in the corner as they clapped enthusiastically._

"_Marvelous!" an older woman gushed as she made marks on her clipboard. "You are definitely a worthy addition to the name of 'Yoshioka', Haru-san. But you still need to work on keeping your eyes open."_

_The petite brunette smiled widely, and cast her eyes out to the sea of parents before her, some of whom were also clapping, but a great many were scowling, since the little girl's performance had ensured that their own daughters wouldn't be able to perform as Marie for the upcoming Nutcracker production that the small training company was going to put on._

_Personally, Haru had wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy, but knew that the part was geared for an older dancer. Besides, only main roles had a chance of impressing her father. She looked out into the audience hopefully, but didn't see him._

_No, wait. He was right next to her mother on the side of the auditorium, but he was absorbed by a small book in his hands, an anguished expression on his face as he wrote notes in a small writing pad. _

_It wasn't until her mother started elbowing him in the stomach that Haru realized that he hadn't paid attention to her dance._

_How was she supposed to win his love if he wouldn't even look at her?!_

Haru sat up with a gasp, her body drenched in cold sweat. She pressed one hand to her heart, which was speeding out of control. After a minute, she managed a breathy laugh. "Well, at least it was a new one this time. I was getting a little sick of hearing both Mom and Little Sis cry like that every time I closed my eyes."

Her two escorts were most likely awake and on deck, if a glance to the side where their empty bed laid was any indication. A beam of light shot out from the lone window of the tiny cabin, declaring it to still be early morning.

She sighed, and rolled out of the blankets she had been curled up in on the floor, and changed out of her flannel pajamas in favor of her favorite green t-shirt and cream skirt. After a second's thought, she decided to work her fish pendant to lie over the shirt, since it was a special occasion. It was small enough to pass unnoticed under ordinary clothes, but she still liked to show it off occasionally.

She slipped on her ordinary tennis shoes, and walked out of the cabin.

Paulamoni was slicing some fresh fruit when the teenager emerged. The older woman looked up, a bit confused. "You only had four hours of rest?"

"Couldn't get back to sleep," Haru explained, stealing an orange wedge. "Are we any closer to the island?"

The woman nodded. "I was going to get you up in ten minutes. We're in sight of the island, if you'd like to take a look."

The slim brunette smiled a little, and kissed the woman's cheek before climbing up the stairwell, almost absently eating her orange wedge.

Paulo also seemed a little surprised to see her up, but she wasn't paying attention to him right now. Instead, her attention was wholly fixed on the large island, only half a mile away. She walked to the front of the boat, squinting through the thinning mist to see the island of her birth.

"There it is," she said softly to herself, her heart strangely slowing down until it only felt an ache of longing. "I'm almost home."

"That's right," Paulo said cheerfully, adjusting the wheel slightly so that they were now aiming for the harbor that was nestled nicely into a crescent-shaped cove, and a number of buildings were easily seen, even from this distance.

But what was puzzling was the number of people clearly waiting on the waterfront, as the mist cleared even further.

"Do all ships go into this harbor?" Haru asked Paulo over one shoulder.

"They have to. The rest of the island is bordered by steep cliffs, so this is the only safe place to make berth."

"Oh," was all she could think of to say. _'That must be it, then. They're waiting for a shipment of some kind, or maybe some relatives to return from fishing.'_

But as Paulo's boat came into the harbor, and a random sailor tied the rope to the dock, Haru began to have doubts on that theory. If the random villagers were interested in a shipment of goods or fish, then why were they staring at her with open mouths?

"Hiroku, Niganu; we'll need some help with the luggage!" Paulo called to the sailor who had tied up the boat, and another sailor that was already setting up a gangplank.

"Yes, sir!" the two middle-aged sailors answered with a military abruptness, marching up the plank so that Paulo could show them where the trio had stored their things.

Since the villagers and other sailors were still staring at her, Haru nervously walked into the cabin so she could grab her duffel bag.

"You're going to love it in Kinkan Town, Haru-chan!" Paulamoni assured her with a wide smile, placing what remained of the fruit into a wicker basket.

_She was forced to watch, as the shadows carefully placed her crying baby sister into her mother's wicker basket, and carry her away._

"Haru-chan?" Paulamoni asked, suddenly directly in front of the younger girl, shaking her slightly by the shoulders. "Come on, talk to me."

She took in a startled breath as she remembered where she was. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

The darker brunette narrowed her eyes at the teenager worriedly. "Is something wrong, Haru? You were frozen in place for a whole minute, and you wouldn't answer me."

"I-It's nothing," the slimmer girl said hastily, stepping out of the woman's hands. "My brain just turned off for a second."

Paulamoni's hand grabbed her elbow before the girl could get away. "Haru, we don't have to go to the Academy today. You could rest for a few more hours, if you need to."

"I'm fine," Haru insisted, although her heart felt like a lump of ice. "I promise."

The woman looked at her suspiciously, and sighed while letting her go. "Well, you could sleep on the way there, if nothing else."

Haru nodded her head, and slung her duffel bag over one shoulder. "By the way, do a lot of foreigners come to the island?"

"Almost none at all. Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Haru said easily, stepping to the side so that a burly Niganu could get by with the box full of her mother's quilting work.

But even the sailor was sneaking a curious glance at her as he passed.

Haru sighed and tried to forget about it. If they didn't see her as a foreigner, they probably saw her as the great Yoshioka Hasho's daughter. Either way, she might as well get used to the scrutiny.

"That's all of it!" Hiroku called out, his gruff voice almost scratching the words.

"Thanks! Paulamoni, Haru; we better hurry!" Paulo said, sticking his head into the cabin to see if the girls were coming.

Haru bit her lip nervously, and gripped her bag a little fiercely as she followed Paulamoni out of the cabin, and down the gangplank.

Their things had been loaded onto the back of an actual carriage! Not a wagon, or even a nice coach, but a beautiful carriage with four white horses!

"Isn't this a bit much?" Haru whispered to the older woman as a footman helped the trio into the carriage, the fishing villagers watching the slim brunette's every move.

"What do you mean?" Paulamoni asked as she eased herself into one of the down-filled seats, her husband beside her.

"I mean, are all scholarship students given the royal treatment?" she asked as she also took a seat, and the footman shut the door behind her.

"I'm betting that you impressed the prince with the video," Paulo laughed, although the action was slightly nervous.

She snuck a peak out the small curtained window, where the people were now crowding together to sneak a last look at her.

They didn't seem to be anything more than curious, so she waved politely at them as the horseman clicked his tongue at the horses. The carriage gave a lurch as the horses began pulling, and they soon left the seafront behind them.

Haru leaned back in her seat, and fished out the very last craft project that she had left, since she had sold off everything else. She threw the partially-made white shawl over her legs, and started clicking her thin metal knitting needles together in the familiar pattern of knit and purl.

After Paulamoni made a bit of fuss over her knitting, she and her husband got into a discussion over what needed to be covered in their next lessons, since other teachers had been picking up their slack while they were off fetching Haru. Although the older woman was a wonderful dancer, she had become a history teacher at the academy, and Paulo was now a music instructor.

Haru lingeringly inhaled the fresh air, which was unpolluted by gas or other hints of 'civilization'. She dimly recalled the scent from her earliest childhood, and had sorely missed it in the city. As her hands continued to work on the shawl on her lap, her mind relaxed to the point where she fell asleep again.

'_I have nothing to fear. The prince is happily married to another, and he's a human, on top of that. Everything will be just fine.'_

ooOoo

_As far back as Haru could remember, she loved dancing in the rain. It didn't matter if it was a light drizzle or a thunderstorm, she loved it all. Snow was fun to dance in, too. _

_Even if her mother made her put on a coat and boots before letting her go outside. Strangely enough, Haru never became ill from this strange obsession._

_As the cold water ran down her body, storm after storm, year after year, Haru never felt more at home than she did during those times._

_For that was what she loved best about water, any form of water. It didn't matter who you were, or if you were accepted by those closest to you. Because sooner or later, the rain would fall on you, just like everything else._

_**It **__didn't play favorites._

"Haru?" Paulamoni seemingly asked out of the blue, leaning over to gently shake the younger brunette by the shoulders. "We're at Kinkan Town."

"Drat," she sighed as she joined the real world, stretching a little from her curled-up position on the seat. She carefully stuffed her fallen knitting into her duffel bag. "I was enjoying that dream."

"Sorry about that, but we thought you might like to see the town before we go up to the Academy," Paulo said apologetically.

Since it _had_ been years, Haru lifted the curtain away from one of the two windows blocking her view.

It was a picturesque village, something that surely would have been commonplace one or two centuries ago. As the carriage plodded down one of the streets, Haru could smell freshly baked bread in the air. She hear the distant clanging of what she assumed to be a blacksmith's hammer as common chatter filled the air. The people more or less dressed according to the theme of the village, but she could occasionally catch women in tailored pants and shorter haircuts.

Directly behind the carriage, the giggling of a growing group of children could be clearly heard as they chased her down the street. "Haru-sama! Haru-sama!" was sung out in an adorable chorus.

"Just how many people knew I was coming?" Haru murmured in amazement as the couple in the other seat looked at each other nervously. She turned around in her seat to pull aside the curtain so that she could see the children.

A few of them squealed in delight at seeing her. "Hi, Haru-sama!" one little blonde girl cried out breathlessly, waving her arms frantically to make sure that the brunette could see her.

"Um, hi there," she answered nervously, waving at the delighted children with one hand.

The small followers immediately doubled their efforts to get her attention, following the carriage until they reached the Academy, where they were stopped by a number of adults that were likely parents.

Haru gave them a final goodbye and turned around in her seat again, her expression baffled. "How did those kids know my name?" she asked Paulamoni, who looked incredibly nervous.

"Word of your video probably leaked out," Paulo offered with a guilty smile. "You're an idol to them, Haru."

The girl blushed, and looked down at her white tennis shoes. "As long as they don't try to do everything I've done, I'm fine with that." She looked out the window again as a large fountain came into her view. It was two iron dancers, the male one picking up the female one by the waist, forever caught in the moment of swinging her above his head.

_Haru held a half-grown cat against her tiny chest as she sat in a corner of a cavern-like room with tall windows. Her parents were dancing, something they had been doing less often. Her father picked his wife up by the waist, and held her high over his head as she executed a perfect pose, her face completely serene for once._

_That was before their fights took a turn for the worse. They never divorced, but after some time, they just stopped speaking to each other. The house was a lot quieter after that, but Haru still wished that her parents would dance together more._

_Or that it would be her turn, one day._

"Haru? Haru?!" Paulamoni asked in a panic, shaking the girl's shoulders again to force the girl to return to the present.

The carriage had stopped, and the door was open. The footman was also leaning into the carriage to look at the girl, his eyes a little worried.

"S-sorry!" she gasped with a nervous giggle. "My brain turned off again." _'I had a cat here?'_

The woman narrowed her eyes at her. "That's twice so far today, Haru. Is something wrong?"

"No," Haru insisted with a nervous smile. "This place is just full of déjà vu for me. It's been years, after all."

Paulamoni looked at her suspiciously as Paulo stepped out of the carriage, and offered her a hand. "All right, but I hope your brain stops turning off."

"I hope so too," she muttered under her breath as she slipped the duffel to one hand, and gave the other one to the footman, since he was offering one of his own to help her down.

She hopped down to the cobblestones, thanked the footman with a nod, and looked at her new home.

It was almost a castle, built with large grey stones and a red-shingled roof. She could see towers as well as large windows dotted around the large building. A slight trace of her previous déjà vu feeling returned, confirming that this was the place.

"It's even bigger than I remember," Haru said softly, stepping to the side so that the footman and driver could get at her luggage better, since they were apparently bringing their things into the Academy as well.

"Thanks, by the way," she told them with a smile. The footman smiled back, but the driver was looking at her from the corner of his eye, with a disbelieving quirk in one eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?" Paulamoni asked, but the man just shrugged, and helped the footman carry her two large boxes toward the large front doors of the elite school.

"Um, shouldn't I get assigned to a room before they go that far?" Haru asked nervously as Paulamoni urged her forward as well, but Paulo patted her back in a comforting manner.

"Just relax, your room's probably already been picked out for you by now. We can check at the front desk which dormitory you're going to be in."

"You're going to love it here," his wife said yet again, stealing another hug from the girl. "The uniforms are simply adorable, the food is prepared by some of the best chefs in the world, and-oh look! Here comes one of your new teachers!"

Haru looked casually over her shoulder to look where the older woman was pointing. Her mouth dropped as her eyes widened in denial. "_Oh no_!" she whispered in horror.

What was coming at her, running on all fours in his eagerness to reach the new student, was a _cat_.

Not just a cat, but one that was even bigger than her! He was a dusty purple-grey variety with a light tan underside. He came to a screeching halt right in front of the girl and stood to his full height, giving her a close-up glimpse of his large gold eyes as he towered over her.

"H-Haru-sama!" he stammered excitedly. The cat bowed repeatedly, wrinkling the nice blue suit he was in. "It is such an honor to actually _meet _you!" he exclaimed, a heavy blush miraculously showing through his fur.

"You've heard of me?" Haru asked sickly after a stunned second. Just to be on the safe side, she started inching her way to hide on the other side of Paulo.

"Of course!" the giant cat declared loudly, throwing one paw up in a dramatic gesture. "There isn't a single cat on the planet that hasn't heard of your heroic deeds!"

She groaned and buried her face in one hand. "I was afraid you'd say something like that." _'This does __**not **__bode well.'_


	8. Foreboding

**Chapter Eight: Foreboding **

"I am your _biggest _fan," the tall cat kept gushing, staring at Haru worshipfully. He had stopped bowing by now, but his whiskers continued to twitch with excitement.

"How nice," she replied weakly, giving Paulamoni a desperate look.

The older woman caught the message. "I'm sorry, Neko-san, but we need to hurry up and get Haru-chan settled in. Come along, Haru, Paulo; there's a lot left to do." She gave another polite nod to the pouting cat while dragging her two companions by the wrists into the Academy.

"I'll see you soon, Haru-sama!" the cat called out from behind, a slight sulk present in his tone.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she groaned to herself, burying her face in one hand again.

"Now, Haru," Paulo scolded gently as they checked in with the front desk. "Neko-sensei's widely respected, and he's one of the top teachers in the world. I think even you could learn a thing or two from him."

She looked at the couple suspiciously. "You knew," she accused, narrowing her eyes angrily. "You knew he'd heard of me!"

"Actually, the whole island has," Paulamoni admitted with a nervous smile. "Neko-san's been singing your praises for months."

"I should have known," Haru hissed while slamming one fist into the stone wall angrily. _'So that's why everyone's been staring at me since we pulled into shore.' _"There goes my chance for a discreet schoolgirl's life."

"Not necessarily," Paulo said while the pale receptionist stood up from her desk, and disinterestedly beckoned for the girl and company to follow her. "You'll have classes and practices just like everyone else."

'_Yeah, but they'll probably be staring at me the whole time. Drat it, I wish they had spoken up about this before now.'_

"So, the stories are true about you?" the driver asked carrying one of her large cardboard boxes out of the main building, and across a small bridge to a small neighborhood.

The simple stone buildings on one side of the street were the girl's dormitories, and were all connected. The boys' were just across the street, something that made little sense to Haru, unless there were several night sentries to discourage 'sleepwalking'.

"That completely depends on what stories you've been hearing," Haru answered with irritation, her stride long and sharp. "If you heard I got into a heck of a lot of trouble after saving a cat prince's life last year, then you're on the right track."

"Hah, I told you!" the footman told his companion triumphantly as they entered a side door. "Pay up!"

"Oh be quiet," the driver muttered under his breath angrily. He adjusted the box he was holding, and continued to follow Haru.

The middle-aged receptionist led them up a narrow staircase, with only a few small windows to cast light in it. Haru made a mental note to never use the stairs at night without some form of light to guide her. The steps were narrow and spiraling, not to mention the fact that they were made of solid stone. If she were to have an accident here, she might not live to groan about it.

"We're here," the receptionist said cheerfully as the staircase ended at a thick wooden door. The green-haired woman took a small silver key out of a white envelope, and used it to open the lock. "This will be your room, Haru-sama."

The door opened wide, drenching the staircase with a pale light. Haru blinked a few times to adjust her eyes, but then walked into the room after Paulo and Paulamoni.

Her mouth dropped open a little. "Um, are you sure that this is the right one?" she squeaked after a second of staring incredulously.

The room was as big as the first floor of the house she had grown up in, and was elegantly decorated in a theme of cream and dark red. The wood furniture was darkly polished, and the large windows framed a beautiful view of the town, as well as a castle in the distance. There was even a bathroom door in one corner of the room.

It was just short of being fit for royalty.

"Very sure, Haru-sama," the receptionist responded firmly while dropping the silver key into the brunette's hand. "After it was confirmed that you were coming, Princess Rue came back to the Academy and hand-chose this room for you. It was hers when she studied here."

"Oh," Haru said numbly, watching the driver and footman neatly deposit her boxes on a chest by the foot of the large bed, which had two packages on it. "That was… nice of her."

"You'll have a chance to thank her," the woman said briskly, bowing as she and the two men left the room. "The princess expressed a deep desire to meet you when she picked this room."

"Oh boy," Haru giggled weakly, stumbling slightly as she made her way to the large bed. She sat at the foot of it, and squeezed her stomach painfully. _'I can do this. I can do this. Whatever it is they want from me can't be so bad, if the princess is willing to be this nice. Oh man, I want to throw up!'_

"Haru, are you sure that you don't want to rest a bit before we show you the rest of the Academy?" Paulamoni asked, sitting next to the girl in order to touch one shoulder gently.

"That… might not be a bad idea," Haru admitted, holding one hand to her head. She may have taken a nap in the carriage, but she was still weary from staying up most of the night.

The fact that she now had an overly talkative cat for a sensei didn't help her nerves, either.

"All right then," Paulo said with a grin, reaching over just enough to muss Haru's hair. "We'll be back in an hour or so. Try to get some rest, okay?"

Haru nodded weakly, and let Paulamoni kiss her once on the forehead. She watched the two walk out of the room, and close the big door behind them.

She sighed tiredly, and fell backwards across the bed. "Why?" she groaned, putting one hand over her eyes. "Why a cat? Couldn't Neko-sensei have been a squirrel or rabbit?!"

Oh well. It was clear that there was little she could do about it. Besides, he had only said he was a fan. She'd been just friends with cats before.

Haru resolved to keep calm about it unless the feline teacher ever started flirting with her. Feeling as weak as a kitten, she slipped off the bed, and moved slowly to the window in order to close the drapes. Her hands grabbed the dark red velvet, but then paused. Narrowing her eyes, Haru looked down to the courtyard, to see a young man that was looking up at her window.

She couldn't see very many details from this far up, but she could tell that he was dressed in black from head to toe. The hood of his long cape was down, revealing a thick ponytail's worth of spiky black hair. There was a spot of yellow on his shoulder, but Haru couldn't tell what it was.

Her head swayed slightly, threatening to drown her in yet another memory. "No," she whispered, but the memory came anyway.

_She had fallen to the ground, because her legs weren't very strong yet. A young boy ran back to her, perhaps a year or so older than her. _

_He smiled brightly, and grabbed her arms to help her back to her feet. His thick black hair was loose, and framed his face almost like a lion's mane. "Come, Haru!" he chirruped happily, dragging her to a tree before picking up a branch. "I be knight, and you princess."_

"_Me… knight?" Haru asked in a baby gurgle, feeling hopeful. Being the princess was pretty boring, since all she had to do was sit by the tree and watch him pretend to fight monsters_

"_Silly," the boy laughed at her as he swung the branch fast in the air like it was a sword. "Girls not knights." _

Haru held one hand to her head, which was beginning to throb slightly. "Who'd have thought I remembered so much?" she asked herself while wincing. Looking down at the boy again, she waved politely with her other hand.

She couldn't see his facial expression, but watched him hesitate for a moment before waving back with one arm. The yellow dot on his shoulder began moving around too, so she assumed that it was a pet of some sort. Maybe a small cat or a canary. No, a canary was smaller than that…

Haru sighed, and bowed to him before drawing the curtains closed, and stumbling to the bed for a short nap. "I wonder what else can happen today."

ooOoo

Not.

Another.

Picture!

Haru glared at yet another poster with her face on it as Paulamoni led her through another classroom of Neko-sensei's. There were at least a dozen of them in each room the large cat was in charge of. They were mostly copies of her junior year school photo, but there were also random shots of her doing ordinary things like eating at her old favorite restaurant or walking around the park. Those shots were often at funny angles, like the photographer had been hiding in strange places while shooting her.

She was been more than certain that she had never seen a camera pointed at her during any of those times. At least, by a human.

"Just how many of those stupid things does he have?" she hissed between her teeth.

"Who could keep count?" Paulo laughed, affectionately ruffling her short brown hair with one hand again. "He's got quite a collection of them."

"No wonder the other students keep staring at me," she concluded miserably, her nerves a little too shocked to worry about how there were other animals in school uniforms. Some were the same size as other animals, but there were also big varieties, like an anteater that was a good three heads taller than herself.

"And this is the practice room," Paulamoni said while opening yet another door, to see a class in session.

It was the room she remembered her parents dancing in. Somehow, it felt even bigger than from her memories. There were a number of white-suited young girls about twelve years old. They were standing en pointe, their pained expressions screaming that this was their first time on toe shoes.

Haru smiled sympathetically, remembering how much it hurt at first, before she laid eyes on Neko-sensei. He had halted in some oratory in order to make a beeline for the brunette, his golden eyes shining happily.

"Ah, Haru-sama-" he began, but then was cut off as she held up a hand.

"Neko-sensei," she said in an icy tone, making him freeze in terror. "Where have you been getting all those pictures of me?"

"Uh, um…" he struggled to say, licking one paw nervously. "I, uh, picked them up, here and there."

"What am I, a merchandising product in the cat world?!" she demanded, grabbing a fistful of the green sweater he was wearing. She brought him closer, allowing him to see just how furious she was. "This may come as a shock, Neko-sensei, but I don't appreciate being spied on, or to have unauthorized pictures taken of me, or for said pictures to be pasted all over a school that I haven't seen since I was a baby. I am not an object, and I don't like being treated like one. Is any of this getting through?"

Neko-sensei's mouth uselessly flapped several times, but he nodded his head frantically.

"Good." Distantly, Haru could hear the young girls next to the practice bar whisper to each other fearfully, but she wasn't interested in what they had to say right now. "You're my sensei now, so I'm willing to cut you a little slack. If _all _of the pictures are gone by this time tomorrow, I'll forget that they were ever around. But if I still see my face plastered all over the walls, not only will I burn every single one of the blasted pictures, I'll come after you. Twenty four hours should be plenty of time for me to think of something suitable. Got it?"

"Y-y-yes ma'am," he squeaked fearfully.

Haru smiled, and released his shirt. "Thank you; that was all I wanted. Was there any other place you wanted to show me, Paulamoni?"

The dark-haired woman was staring at her almost fearfully. "Well, we still have the locker rooms and the grounds."

"Then let's get moving. Keep up the good work," Haru told the students as she turned to leave.

They quickly resumed standing en pointe, but they looked more than a little scared.

She giggled. "Relax, girls. You're doing just fine." Just as she walked out of the room again, her eye caught a shadow against the side of one of the large windows. She turned around quickly, but the shadow had already passed out of sight.

"Is something wrong, Haru?" Paulamoni asked hesitantly, touching one of the girl's shoulders.

The slim brunette narrowed her eyes dangerously, and forced herself to look away from the window. "For the sake of whoever might be stalking me, I hope not."

That wasn't the last time Haru caught a hint that she was being followed. The shadow made no appearance in the locker rooms, but once she stepped outside the school, she could hear constant footsteps dogging her behind bushes.

But they weren't quite loud enough to be footsteps, because neither Paulo nor Paulamoni ever heard a thing.

But Haru could, and she was dead certain that it wasn't a human following her.

They didn't have four tiny feet, let alone several friends with the same.

ooOoo

She sighed inwardly and shook her head a few hours later, as the sun was setting. A single candle guided her way up the spiraling staircase to her room. She had just eaten dinner with the rest of the students, although she hadn't had much of an appetite. The other students were mostly between the ages of six and sixteen. There were four other advanced students about her age, all girls, but they didn't seem all that interested in talking to her.

For some reason she wasn't aware of, they were far more interested in staring at her. They looked away quickly whenever she looked back at them, but she wasn't fooled.

Finally reaching the door at the top of the stairs, Haru stood in front of it for a moment, resting her forehead against the smooth stained wood. "What has that cat been telling everyone about me, anyway?" she groaned, fishing around her pocket for her key. Finding it, she slipped it into the lock, and twisted it enough to make the polished metal click. She pushed the door open, and closed it behind her with one foot.

There was something new waiting for her on the bed. Her heart sank as she approached it. Collapsing on the bed, she stared at the single red rose, tied against a stem full of tiny blue forget-me-nots with a white ribbon.

There was a letter, underneath the flowers.

Sighing, Haru eased the cream-colored envelope from the modest bouquet, and opened it. A flowing calligraphy met her eyes, in a small hand that was more art than word.

_Eternity itself could not seem longer than your absence from the village. I greatly look forward to becoming reacquainted with you, dearest Haru._

There was no signature.

Haru laughed cynically, hopping out of her bed tiredly so that she could hunt for a vase. "Yeah, whoever it is must _really _want to see me again, if he can't even sign a stupid note!" How was she supposed to know who to look for, if they couldn't be bothered to give her a name?

The flowers were pretty, though. She had never gotten flowers before, except for the daisy Baron had dropped just before making the scholarship video.

Since Haru couldn't find a vase, she used a drinking glass to set the flowers neatly on her bedside table before turning her attention to the two boxes that she hadn't felt like opening earlier.

One of them was her new school uniform, complete with neat black shoes with surprisingly high heels. The skirt was short and grey, and it was clearly designed to poof out like a tutu when worn. The top was a white shirt covered with a jacket that matched the shirt, and a small gold pendant had been provided to accent the simple button-down shirt. The sleeves of the jacket flared out slightly at the wrist, and had a band of blue almost hemming the ends. The band of blue also bordered her skirt and the lining of the grey jacket. She felt that the puffy shoulders were a bit over the top, but knew that her opinion didn't matter.

Haru set the outfit aside for class the following morning, and opened the second box. If she had been holding it, she surely would have dropped it. "The prima red?" she whispered to herself.

It was her new practice outfit, but the shade was one rarely seen during practice. The body suit matched the rose in the drinking glass in a crimson hue, and the skirt was a good three inches shorter than the outfit she had made. The pointe shoes were the same shade, and the outfit was accompanied by light red tights.

There was only one outfit like this in the entire school, since it was only worn by the best female dancer. Haru was a little surprised that that just handed this to her without another dance routine.

Maybe her video was more impressive than she thought.

Haru held the body suit up by the tiny frilly sleeves, dismally looking at how little material would actually cover her shoulders. "I wonder if they'll let me alter it so I can hide my scars," she mused out loud.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on the window glass behind her. She wheeled around fast, her body instinctively moving closer to the ground as she dropped the elite outfit on the bed. Her hands flexed angrily like she still had claws, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

She glared at the nervous intruder, but then blinked, and started giggling.

Feeling like an idiot, she rose to her feet, and walked over to the window in order to open it. "This place keeps getting weirder and weirder," she informed her little visitor, as it hopped into the room, and looked up at her curiously. "Back home, the only bird that would ever come near me wasn't even a real one."

The huge flock of crows that had saved her from death didn't really count, since they were only doing what Toto had asked of them.

Haru smiled ironically at the tiny visitor, and sat down next to the window in order to be closer to the yellow bird. "I wonder why a cute little duck like you would be willing to come all the way up here."


	9. Peace

**Chapter Nine: Peace**

The duck cocked its head adorably at her before stepping closer to Haru, and putting her wings against one of her legs in a strange embrace. It quacked softly several times, but Haru couldn't understand a word of it.

"This place doesn't make any sense," she muttered under her breath while rubbing the duck's head with one hand. "Why is it that a cat can teach ballet, anteaters and crocodiles can learn as well as humans, but a duck can't talk human? Whoever invented the rules for the island should learn to be more consistent." She thought about the strange question for a minute before a sharp twinge of fear pierced her breast. She leaned closer to the bird, who looked a little panicked from her sudden action.

"Please tell me you're a girl," Haru begged.

"Quack, quack!" the duck replied, nodding her head frantically. A blush miraculously glowed through her feathers.

Could all animals blush here?!

The slim brunette breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I have enough trouble with crushing cats, thanks all the same. Hey, weren't you with my old playmate, earlier today? The one with spiky black hair?"

The tiny duck quacked the affirmative while nodding, obviously pleased, but since the brunette had little experience with real birds, she couldn't tell what the bird was pleased about.

Wondering something, Haru stood up and retrieved the note from its place next to the makeshift vase. "Tell me, was he the one who snuck this into my room?" She held up the piece of paper while leaning over the bird so that she could read it. _'Wait, can birds read human?'_

Her doubts were banished as the duck began quacking up an indignant storm, shaking her head like mad while pointing at the paper with one flapping wing.

"What's-his-name has nothing to do with this?" Haru guessed.

The little one nodded again, but there was a trace of confusion through her anger as she seemed to sniff the paper.

Puzzled, Haru brought the paper close to her nose, and took a deep sniff, since she still had heightened feline senses. She snorted, feeling like an idiot for not trying that earlier. "Another cat. What a big shocker," she said sarcastically, about to crumple the piece of paper into a ball before throwing it away.

But… something about the scent stopped her. She took another deep sniff, closing her eyes like she was sampling a flower. "This _does _smell a little familiar," she whispered, tapping the paper against her head, actually hoping for another flashback to overtake her mind.

But none came.

Haru sighed, and set the paper next to the flowers again. "Oh well. Whoever it is will probably jog my memory, once he actually reveals himself. At least it didn't smell like Neko-sensei," she confided to the duck.

Her quacks actually sounded like laughter.

"Tell me, is he as big of a flirt as he appears to be?"

The tiny duck nodded furiously, her expression pained.

"I was afraid of that," Haru admitted miserably, her figure caving against the wall she was sitting against. But then her brown eyes turned as cold as ice. "Well, if he ever tries to force me into a relationship, I'll let him have it! Any girl that can turn down a lecherous Cat King can handle a mere ballet teacher!" She cracked a few knuckles for a grim emphasis.

"Quack?" the duck asked incredulously, her expression shocked. "Quack quack quack!"

"It's a long, long story," Haru apologized, stretching a little while yawning. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's been a long, weird day, and I have class in the morning. Can we talk again tomorrow?"

The little duck nodded, a shy smile showing around her orange beak.

Haru smiled again, and gently picked her up to set her on the windowsill, which was still open. "Just out of curiosity, is my old playmate interested in being friends again? _Just _friends?" she asked painfully while gently rubbing the duck's head. _'Why do I still bother asking questions like that over human boys?'_

The tiny bird nodded again, waving goodbye with one wing before flying down from the tower in a strangely smooth spiral. She landed directly into the hand of a figure that had been hiding in the shadows. Although Haru couldn't hear her, she could see the duck enthusiastically flap her wings while gesturing to the tower. The figure looked up at her, and waved an arm in a friendly greeting.

Haru waved back with a smile before closing the window, since she was certain that the figure was her old playmate. She drew the dark red curtains shut over the window, hoping that he wasn't aiming for yet another round of Knight and Princess. Or if he was, that he'd let her be the knight this time.

She took a shower, and dressed in her flannel pajamas before slipping underneath the red comforter. Although she wasn't in love with the room's color scheme, she was going to be far too busy to change it, _if _she was even allowed to change it.

She settled her head against the soft pillow, and waited for sleep to claim her. "Baron," she whispered as a single tear caressed her face and fell onto the cream-colored sheet. A stab of pain shot through her heart again, but she didn't need it to tell her how she felt. "I miss you so much. I wish I could know if you miss me, too."

ooOoo

"… _and so the fair princess was at last reunited with her father, and peace was restored to the land. She married her true love, the kind-hearted stable boy, and lived happily ever after." _

_Haru stared at the last lines of the beautiful story before closing the book, and holding it to her chest tightly. Underneath the quilt her mother made for her, the fourteen-year old girl's leg was in a cast, from trying a complicated stunt in ballet class a few days earlier. Her sensei had tried to stop her from doing it, but Haru was growing impatient. _

_It had been six years since her father had issued her the challenge, but the goal still felt as far away as the moon. He had never mentioned it again, but Haru had never forgotten about it. She couldn't even if she tried. _

_She still had yet to get her father to call her by her real name._

_Haru tapped one thumb against her favorite fairy tale, wishing that it would turn into reality. Was she doing something wrong? _

_Almost like the thought of him was enough to summon her father, just this once, he opened the door with a folder's worth of homework that Hiromi promised to bring by after school. Nonchalantly, he threw the folder at her desk, since it was right next to her bed. "Tell your mother I left for the island," he told her emotionlessly, already turning to leave._

"_But Dad, Mom said you needed to stay until she got back from the doctor."_

"_Chiharu, you're twelve now-"_

"_Fourteen," she corrected him sadly._

"_Fine, fourteen. You're old enough to be home alone, and a taxi's waiting for me outside."_

"_Aren't I worth an hour delay?" Haru asked in a tiny voice, looking down at the book in her hands._

_Her father was silent for a moment. "Do you need a drink of water before I go?" he asked in tired resignation._

"_How about a hug instead?" '__**Please**__. You never hug me.'_

_He sighed with irritation as his hands twitch slightly. "I don't have time for this, Haruhi. Just tell your mother I'll be back in three months or around that time." _

_Without further ado, he walked out the door, and left her alone again._

'_Why is it I know his back better than his face?' Haru thought as tears began to fall once more. She wrapped her scrawny arms around her chest and squeezed as hard as she could, but it wasn't the same at all. _

"_I just wanted a hug. Was that too much to ask for?"_

Haru slowly opened her eyes, noticing that her pillow was moist with fresh tears, and her head hurt like she had been crying for hours. "Oh, come on," she sobbed, actually slapping herself in the face as she threw the covers aside. "Didn't I get enough of this when he was alive?"

She stumbled to the bathroom, and splashed cold water over her face until the memory began to fade again. Her breathing became more controlled, and her sobs stopped after a minute.

'_**Baron **__would have given me the hug.' _Haru looked up at her reflection to see a tired young woman looking back at her. "Just what do you want of me, Dad? I left behind the man of my dreams to find _your _daughter, didn't I? I left everything I had ever loved to finish _your _mission. Stop with the nightmares already, I've wasted enough years and tears on you."

She doubted that saying it out loud would make the memories stop returning, but it felt good to finally say something about it. It was still a good two hours before her first class, but since there was no way she was about to get to sleep, she changed into her grey uniform. She neatly folded the prima red into her schoolbag, and locked up her tower room before walking down the spiral staircase. She took care to step lightly, so that she wouldn't disturb the other girls' dreams. Perhaps theirs were more peaceful than hers. Not that it would take much.

'_If this keeps up much longer, I may just give up on sleep altogether.'_

Haru sighed again, and slipped into the girls' cafeteria to snatch a blueberry muffin. She ate it on the way to school, which was nearly shrouded in early morning mist. It gave such an old-world feel to the village that she couldn't help but love it. She looked around the school after entering, pleased that there was not a single poster with her face on it in sight.

She still didn't see a picture by the time she reached the girls' locker room, changed into the prima red, and make her way to the practice room. _'Maybe if I get lucky, no one will notice I have scars.'_ She opened the door slowly, in case there was someone inside already.

There wasn't.

Smiling a little, Haru tossed her small towel at the bars that girls usually used to help keep their balance, and moved to the center of the room. "If the way I've been dancing for years isn't my true style, then what is?" she asked herself softly, since there was no one around to hear her.

She started breathing slowly, focused on no other sound than her heartbeat, which would have to serve as music for the present. It was firm and steady. She rose to en pointe and closed her eyes as usual, fighting to keep her usual instincts from taking over again. She rotated her arms slowly and began taking miniscule steps to the side, nearly small enough to fool someone into thinking she wasn't moving her body at all, although it was clearly changing locations.

She pirouetted three times slowly, still only listening to the sound of her breathing and her heartbeat. Her imagination began to take over; changing the twin sounds into something she hadn't heard in years.

It was a river, flowing down the side of a mountain. It was a waterfall, cascading down the side of a cliff to a large lake below. It was rain, it was snow, and even mist.

Haru knew her thoughts wouldn't make sense to anyone but her, but she was past caring by now. Listening to nothing but the subtle music in her head, she bent her body into a fluid pattern. She wasn't afraid to use an unorthodox move, like leaping into the air and catching herself with her hands again, but at least her routine wasn't overflowing with tricks that had little point but to impress whoever was watching.

If Muta were here, he would surely approve of this new method. _This _was a lot closer to how she felt. It was more peaceful, more accepting. There was nobody she had to impress, no one she needed to earn the love of.

It was just her and the music, and that was just the way she liked it. She could actually dance longer like this, since it didn't require as much energy as the other style had.

"_Wow_," a hushed voice suddenly whispered out of nowhere.

Haru stumbled in surprise, her eyes snapping open as a gasp of surprise escaped her throat. Her head snapped to the side, where there were several other students crowding around the large opened double doors, as well as Neko-sensei. He had one paw over a blonde student's mouth, probably the one that had spoken up. His own mouth was hanging open, and his golden eyes were ablaze with admiration.

"Uh… I'm sorry if I was holding class up," Haru apologized while blushing terribly with embarrassment. She started sidestepping nervously to one of the walls, but Neko-sensei hurriedly held up one paw to stop her.

"Wait, Haru-sama! Would… you show us that back flip again?" the large feline nearly begged her.

She blinked, and bit her lip a little. "Okay," she said softly, aligning her body while closing her eyes again. She rose to en pointe again, and made several steps backward before her stride became longer. Her long legs bent so low that her knees nearly touched the floor, and then catapulted her body into the air.

The main reason Haru had worked so hard on this trick was because she wanted to recreate the moment she went skydiving with the Cat Bureau, just after they had escaped from the Cat Kingdom. She loved the feel of the air as it brushed against her pale skin, and the soft ripple of her clothes as she twirled around in the air, just catching herself with her hands. They also bent low to absorb the impact, and to build up the momentum she needed to send her body into the air again.

Her body was perfectly straight as she did so, landing on her feet once again. She flexed her hands like paws, reminding herself that the sensei had only wanted to see that move.

Neko-sensei was still staring at her when she opened her eyes again. Despite the tears and the fact that he looked like he had stayed up the entire night, probably taking down the posters as she had ordered, he actually looked happy.

Perhaps a little _too _happy, for Haru's comfort. She curtsied politely, and joined the other students after retrieving her towel. As she turned to face the cavern-like room, she noticed several shadows quickly flee the windowsill, like several small people had pressed themselves against the glass only a moment before.

Her eyes narrowed angrily as she used her towel to wipe up the sweat from her neck and forehead. Neko-sensei haltingly had each of the students dance, to determine what class they would be in. But the students seemed to be so nervous, that they could barely keep their balance.

Maybe practicing early hadn't been such a good idea, she concluded miserably. The others clearly weren't half as good as she was, and her demonstration had clearly shaken their confidence. One or two girls in blue outfits were glaring at her, but no one dared to say a word to her.

Haru sighed, guessing that she wouldn't be making very many friends among her classmates. She hadn't made very many in Japan, but she had hoped that things would be different here.

It was probably for the best. Friends took time, and she would need every bit she could get for hunting for the Raven's Lair. She nibbled thoughtfully on a thumbnail, wishing her father had bothered to keep a journal. Her search could have been reduced considerably if she knew what areas he had managed to search before mysteriously dying.

Oh well. It wasn't like it was the first time he had denied her his assistance. She would manage just fine, as she always had.


	10. Wistfulness

**Chapter Ten: Wistfulness**

Haru took a generous bit of salad next to her tuna sandwich, adding a sugar cookie and glass of water to her lunch. All her meals were included in her scholarship, so the plump cook in charge of the girls' meals waved her past the register while making a mark in a small notepad. She nodded politely to the matronly woman, and started looking for a table to sit at.

Unfortunately, Neko-sensei had held her back after class to discuss her 'special' lessons, since she was obviously way ahead of the other students, so there were no empty tables. She approached one table, the girls falling silent as she drew closer.

"May I sit here?" Haru asked politely.

"Sorry, this is a private discussion," a red-headed girl almost snapped at her, turning her head sharply to her companions so that she wouldn't have to look at Haru anymore. All four girls had been the ones wearing blue from before, declaring them to be just beneath her in ballet.

Haru flinched slightly from the tone, but sighed. "Have a nice day, then." She walked away, only to find identical behavior at every table she approached. She made a complete circle of the cafeteria, her heart sinking lower and lower until it felt like it had fallen into one of her feet. There were a few girls that looked guilty as they turned away, but that only hurt a little less than an outright refusal.

Before she knew it, she was standing next to the cook again, sharply biting her lip so that her face would remain calm and composed. _'What am I supposed to do? Apologize to everyone for being a better dancer?' _That just reeked of egotism, and would probably just make them hate her more.

"Is something wrong, Haru-sama?" the friendly older woman asked with concern.

She opened her mouth to say yes, but then stopped herself. She would not force her will on anyone, and she was not about to bring the cook into it like a pouting child would. "Are we allowed to eat outside?" she asked instead, feeling hopeful. "I promise to bring back all the dishes if it's all right."

The cook looked at her, but smiled a little. "Certainly, Haru-sama. Just be sure to watch the clock in the tower, so you're not late for your next class."

Haru bowed thankfully, and walked out of the room with her shoulders squared and her stride long and true. She would not leave like she was being driven out. She _wanted _to eat outside.

Maybe if she got lucky, one of her stalkers would finally approach her so she could get some answers.

She walked around the grounds, making sure to pick a spot where the girls in the cafeteria wouldn't be able to see her.

Eventually, she found a white gazebo, made completely of stone. It was nestled comfortably between two trees that were covered with tiny white flowers.

'_Almond trees. This place should be just fine.'_ She sighed again, and set her tray on the cold steps. She sat down next to it, taking care to smooth out her puffy skirt so that it wouldn't expose anything more than it already was. She set the tray on her lap, and slowly began stabbing her salad with a fork so she could eat it.

"How was I to know they were going to just watch instead of telling me class was starting?" she muttered softly to herself between bites of lettuce. Once that was gone, she ate the sandwich, washing it down her throat with the entire glass of water. She looked at the cookie, but found that she didn't want it, after all.

Setting the tray aside, she brought her knees closer so that she could wrap her arms around them, sighing sadly. "What were those girls expecting, anyway? They knew _someone _reasonably good was going to get the scholarship. Why give me the hostile lockdown?"

"Quack?"

Haru looked over her shoulder in surprise, noticing the duck from the night before, sitting on a stone banister about a foot over her head. The yellow bird was cocking her head at the human, confused about something Haru couldn't guess at.

She smiled, and stood up so that she could rub the duck's head again. "How did you know I needed to see a friendly face?" she asked, sharply rubbing one sleeve over her eyes so that no tears would be seen.

The duck quacked again, hopping onto her shoulder to wrap one tiny wing around the back of Haru's head in a compromised hug.

The brunette gently brushed the bird's feathers as she sat down again, still feeling miserable. "Do you ever get the feeling that everyone's in on a big joke, and you're not going to find out what it is until it's too late?"

The duck looked at her sadly, and nodded once.

Haru sighed again, brushing away more tears before they could burst from her watering eyes. "You know what, little one? There are days when I think I wasn't supposed to be born a human. I've always gotten along better with cats and even birds. I don't know why; I just connect better with them." She looked up to the perfectly clear sky, wishing she could know what to do.

"I swear I wasn't showing off this morning. I was just trying out a new style after a stupid nightmare woke me up too early again."

The duck's head snapped upwards, and her tiny wings fell to her sides with shock. "_Quack_?! Quack quack quack quack!"

"Calm down, little one," Haru attempted to say, giggling at the duck's reaction. "I can't understand a word you're saying, remember?"

The little bird looked extremely irritated, and she quacked darkly under her breath.

"Hold on, maybe I can guess it." Haru held one fist to her chin, thinking a bit. "Something about that sentence disturbed you?"

"Quack!" the duck answered while nodding.

"Showing off?"

"Quack!" No.

"The new style?"

Another no.

"The nightmare?"

"_Quack!_" A rather enthusiastic yes.

Haru stared at the duck, taking it from her shoulder in order to hold her between her hands. "You… want to know about my nightmare?"

The duck nodded slowly, to make sure that the brunette could understand the action. She patted one of Haru's hands while quacking again, her tone pleading with the girl.

Haru groaned, sitting back a bit. "It's a bit personal. It was about my dad."

The duck seemed a little disappointed by the subject, but she wouldn't stop quacking at the slim brunette until she elaborated.

Haru sighed again. "I… never really had a good relationship with him. I tried my hardest to be a good daughter, I really did, but… it was never enough for him. As terrible as it sounds, I'm happiest when I forget that he ever existed. It's a lot easier than admitting that…"

She couldn't even finish her sentence. The familiar stab shot through her heart like an arrow, violently enough to make her grab the front of her shirt with one hand as a gasp of pain escaped her throat. Tears escaped her eyes as the duck quacked again with panic. She patted the girl's wrist, but Haru couldn't even look at her anymore.

She felt so _ashamed_.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even mentioned it. Thank you for listening to me," Haru said quickly while gently setting the bird on the stone step, and picking up the tray in order to walk away. But she stopped right before leaving, and picked up the neglected remains of her lunch. "Do you like sugar cookies?"

The duck was quacking at her violently, waving her little wings around in a frantic manner.

Haru was pretty sure that the cute bird didn't care about the cookie right now, but she _really_ didn't want to finish her earlier sentence.

"Well, here it is if you change your mind," she said softly, crumbling the cookie between her fingers so that it dissolved into a neat pile of sugary crumbs next to the bird. She kissed the duck on the forehead gently, and turned around quickly to start jogging back to the cafeteria with her tray's remaining contents.

The duck was still staring after the girl when a figure emerged from a nearby bush.

He brushed a few spare leaves from one sleeve, his expression strangely soft. He walked to the gazebo, and gently set the duck on his lap. "You know, Ahiru? I don't think you're the only one that needs help."

The duck nodded sadly, and started quacking insistently.

"Don't worry," Fakir laughed gently, holding her close. "I'll approach her as soon as I can. Rue's losing patience with me, too."

ooOoo

It wasn't hard to see how her two years at Kinkan Academy were going to be. The students hated or avoided her, the teachers she had adored her, and she was given enough homework to keep her busy in between classes and sleeping.

A perfect definition of 'teacher's pet'.

Haru made her way back up the stone staircase after dinner, which she had eaten at a table alone, feeling exhausted. She didn't even have all that much homework, but her one-sided conversation with the little duck had left her feeling weak.

That was the closest she had ever come to telling anyone how she felt about her father, and she still didn't know why the yellow bird had been able to get her to talk. Her mother had tried to get her to speak up, so many times…

Haru sighed yet again, slipping her silver key into the lock. She was about to open the door, but then stopped cold. She looked at her hand, which was resting on the sturdy wood that stood between her and her room. She fingered the grain a little more, stunned at how familiar it felt to her.

'_This feels like Baron's wooden form. It must be the same type of wood he was made from. What __**is **__Baron made out of?' _Haru sighed, and pushed her door open. "I can't seem to forget about you, can I?"

Another package was waiting for her on the bed, along with a note.

A little miffed, since she was certain that she had locked the window and door tightly, she stormed over to her bed, and tore open the note.

_My fair lady-_

_Your father never knew what he had. That fool didn't deserve to have a jewel like you in his miserable life. The sooner you forget about him, the better._

Again, no name was present, but Haru felt a little better after reading the flowing calligraphy. She carefully set the note next to the first one, and turned her attention to the small paper-wrapped package that was sitting patiently on the silken comforter.

She pulled away the tan paper to reveal a breathtaking crystal comb, set with tiny jewels arranged to look like flowers along the spine. She inhaled slightly, having never seen a thing so beautiful before in her life. It looked like a piece of intricately carved ice.

"At least he knows better than to send mice," Haru said numbly as she moved to a small vanity, and sat in front of it. A tired young woman sat in front of her, her dark eyes strangely excited as she raised the comb to her short brown hair.

But then her mother's voice returned to her without warning.

"… _so the wicked queen disguised herself as an old hag, taking many wares with her to the seven dwarves' cottage. Among the items in her basket was a lovely comb, which she had anointed with poison."_

The crystal teeth hovered over her hair as she hesitated, remembering the morbid fairy tale. "No," she whispered, trying to laugh off her fear. "That sort of thing doesn't happen in real life."

But giant anteaters did?! As well as talking crocodiles that took ballet?!

'_The sooner you forget about him, the better.'_

Haru decided not to chance it. She set the delicate comb next to the mirror, and crossed her arms over the vanity in order to rest her head on them. She stared at the comb, and then at her reflection.

Seeing the two together made her feel silly. Yes, the comb was perhaps the most beautiful thing she had ever received in her life. It was so beautiful… she couldn't even wear it. Even when she wasn't sleep-deprived, she was merely pretty, and that was when she was in a good mood. If she could trust her unseen admirer enough to try it on, the effect would have been ludicrous. It wouldn't have really suited her.

"Maybe I can string it from the window so it can cast rainbows on the walls," she giggled, feeling a bit better than she had when entering the room. She moved to her writing desk, did her homework, and took a shower before getting ready for bed.

All the while, she thought about her mysterious suitor. The gifts and letters made it pretty clear that the admirer was a high-standing feline gentleman, but who? She hadn't really met any of the noblemen in Lune's kingdom when she visited it almost a year ago.

She immediately rejected the idea of it being Baron because one; she'd have known his scent, two; she'd have recognized the handwriting, and three; he didn't think of her that way.

Out of all the reasons Haru came up with, she hated that last one the most.

She yawned while turning off the bedside lamp, a little sad that her feathered friend hadn't dropped by tonight. "I'll give that cat one more day to show himself. Then I'm getting a guard dog."

Wait. Dogs hated her, and vice versa long before her adventure to the Cat Kingdom. Oh shoot, how was she supposed to protect herself from someone that wouldn't even reveal himself?

"Dang it, why can't Baron ever stalk me?" she pouted as slumber claimed her once more.


	11. Candor

**Chapter Eleven: Candor**

_Haru burst into her room, and threw herself over her perfectly made bed. The tears came slowly at first, and then increased to a steady flood that left her gasping for breath._

_It wasn't true. It __**couldn't **__be true._

_Her father was dead, mysteriously killed on the faraway island that he loved so much. All her years of hard work, all the sprained and broken limbs she had endured, all the tenderness she had been denied all her life… _

_They were for nothing. She would never win her father's love now._

_Everything bad seemed to happen on this day of the year. One would think she'd learn to watch out for bad things by now._

Haru gasped as she fell out of bed, her head colliding sharply with the lush red carpet. She groaned from the pain, and rolled to her knees sorely. "Stay out of my head!" she yelled to the ceiling, sick and tired of reliving her worst memories. "Leave me alone! I don't care who you are, just leave me alone," she sobbed, burying her head in her arms in order to cry for a few minutes.

But only a few minutes. She had an early class to get to.

Neko-sensei had arranged for her to have an earlier session than the other students, since she had admitted to being an early riser. She hadn't explained why, though. It wasn't any of the teacher's business whether or not she had nightmares every night.

And no one had mentioned her scars, so Haru decided not to worry about letting people see them. It may even be a good idea, to let people see that she wasn't perfect.

Maybe they'd hate her a little less.

She cracked her spine one more time before opening the door to the practice room. "Good morning, Neko-sensei," she greeted the feline while shutting the door behind her.

The tall cat turned around sharply, an ecstatic smile on his furry face. "Good morning, Haru-sama!" he said ecstatically before regaining his composure.

Haru fought back a laugh as he walked up to her with dignity, only his twitching whiskers telling how much he wanted to just run at her.

"I trust you slept well?" he asked politely.

"Well enough," she said stiffly, stretching one leg. "You?"

"Like a kitten," he replied dreamily before coming back to his senses. "There was one thing I've wanted to ask you, Haru-sama."

"Only one?" she said with a small smile.

He blushed like a young school boy, and started cleaning his face with one paw in a nervous frenzy. "For now, Haru-sama. I… I couldn't help but notice that in the video Paulo-san made of you, before you came, your eyes were shut. I noticed the same thing yesterday morning. You even did it when I requested the back flip."

Haru shrugged. "It's a bad habit of mine. It drove my father crazy."

Neko-sensei stared at her incredulously. "You mean… you _always _dance with your eyes shut?"

"There are a few rare exceptions," Haru answered, thinking about the waltz she had shared with Baron. "But my eyes are usually shut."

The cat shook his head in amazement. "I thought you were showing off how well you knew your routine!"

"I was not!" Haru said hotly, crossing her arms while glaring at the cat. "It's a habit I need to break, and nothing more!"

He flinched from her tone, but still smiled at her. "All right. Since that appears to be your biggest concern, we'll work on your eyes first. Come out here a bit."

She followed him to the center of the room, glaring at the three cats that were sitting on the other side of the large windows. Two of them flinched fearfully and left, but the third one stayed.

She could see a bit of red from the remaining feline, but she was too far away from the window to see more details. Haru forced herself to ignore him, and looked at her sensei again.

"All right, Haru-sama; show me a pirouette. And every time you shut your eyes, I get a kiss."

Haru looked at him incredulously. "_Excuse me_?!" she hissed between her teeth as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"There has to be a penalty for when you do it, or you'll never break the habit," he explained, but the look in his eyes told her that he had an ulterior motive.

"If you try to enforce that, I'll rip out your whiskers," she said in a low threatening voice, showing him one fist.

"I'm just trying to help," he protested through a blush.

"Yeah, while getting something out of the deal yourself," Haru retorted as she began pirouetting. "For crying out loud, how come humans never hit on me?!"

As she turned, she carefully kept her eyes open and on her teacher, so that he couldn't try to enforce his ridiculous penalty. But as she turned, she watched the blush fade, and the strangely excited look be replaced by something else that she couldn't quite read.

Was it pain? Regret? Longing, perhaps?

In any case, Neko-sensei didn't answer the question. Instead he sighed, and started asking her to do various steps. But as depressed as he had become, he was still keeping a golden eye on her brown ones, waiting for the chance to claim a kiss.

ooOoo

"Ha! You shut them!" he declared while pointing a paw at her triumphantly perhaps half an hour later.

"I was blinking, there's a difference!" she retorted while stepping backward.

"Excuses, excuses," he purred, holding out his arms while taking deliberate steps toward her.

"Whiskers," she growled in a deadly voice, holding up a fist for his benefit.

He stopped dead in his tracks, blinking a bit himself. "A penalty's a penalty," he pouted.

"I'll mop the practice room after classes then."

"So you _admit _that you shut them!" he said in exultation, making another pass at her.

Haru avoided him with ease, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she tripped him with one foot. "Of course I shut them, that's the whole idea behind blinking! If you're trying to get me to like you, you're failing miserably!"

Neko-sensei stopped dead in the action of getting up, frozen with one knee on the ground in a strangely reverential position to her. He was still facing the ground, so she couldn't see his expression.

Seeing that she had hit a mark, Haru kept talking. "Why do you think I was so opposed to marrying into the royal cat family? I don't like being forced into things, and I'm pretty sure that you don't, either. No matter how hard you try, you can't _force_ anyone to love you. Take it from someone who's already made the attempt for years on end."

His head snapped up in astonishment, but Haru was already walking past him.

"Until you can conduct yourself like a gentleman, I won't be back. Learning's hard enough without having to defend myself from you." She opened the door to let herself out, muttering one more thing under her breath.

"At least my _stalker_ doesn't try to sneak kisses."

Neko-sensei inhaled sharply as the door shut behind his star pupil. His slanted golden eyes immediately turned to the window, where another cat was smirking at him. A fierce growl worked its way through his throat as he ran for the large window, and opened one of the panels enough to hiss at his rival.

"Stay away from Haru. She's mine!"

"Is that so?" the other cat chuckled in amusement. "It appears to me that she prefers _my _method of courtship over yours. Her preference shouldn't be all that surprising, _cousin_."

The giant cat hissed in hostility, desperately throwing an arm out the window to claw the tinier cat to pieces.

The brown cat laughed a little wickedly, dodging the blows with ease. "That's right; embrace your anger. It will only pave my path to the fair Miss Haru's heart. I've been waiting patiently enough for my second chance at it."

"If you lay one paw on her, I'll claw out your eyes!"

The smaller cat waved one paw at him mockingly. "Tut tut. You really should think of better insults than that, _cousin_. Even Miss Haru can do better than that." He smirked at the struggling feline, and tipped his hat before calmly walking away. "Don't you fret; I'll be sure to send you a wedding announcement."

ooOoo

Haru was still in a black mood as she climbed out of the girls' locker room window, just in case Neko-sensei was waiting by the door for her. She straightened her school uniform as she stood up, and tucked her bag under one arm. Without further ado, she started running into the woods in the back of the school. Because she had been switched to an earlier class, she wasn't due to be anywhere for a couple hours.

For now, it felt good to run, far from stalkers, from cats… from everything. She was sick and tired of being under constant surveillance like a movie star.

After a few minutes, she collapsed against a tree, the large lake in front of her reflecting the morning mist still hanging over the landscape.

She slowly regained her breath, staring out into the silver-shot waters. She listened hard for the sound of intruders, but couldn't find anything more alarming than distant birdsong.

Haru sighed happily, and allowed herself to relax. "I'll have to remember this place. It's so tranquil."

After another minute, however, she could hear hooves beating the ground from the direction she came from. Hissing in irritation, Haru put her schoolbag's handle between her teeth and jumped into the thick foliage overhead.

Thus protected from view, she patiently waited for the horseman to reveal himself.

A brown stallion rode underneath her branch, a figure in a long black cloak sitting in the saddle. He looked this way and that as a tiny yellow duck clung to the folds of his cloak with trembling wings. The little bird was panting heavily.

"She's _good_," a deep voice said with a trace of irritation. He slid off the horse in order to inspect the ground carefully, searching for clues while keeping the small bird in one arm.

"I can't be all that interesting, can I, Sir Knight?" Haru asked him in a slightly chilly voice, taking the bag's handles into one hand so that her human stalker could understand her.

He looked up at her with surprise, and tore the hood from his head to reveal his familiar hair. "How did you know that I'm a knight?" he asked her curiously, since he wasn't wearing armor.

"I didn't." The skirt wasn't much protection from him at that line of sight, so Haru hopped from the branch to land safely on the ground. She looked up at him, noticing that he had grown a full head taller than her. "You just liked pretending to be one when we were babies."

"_You _can remember that?!" he asked with shock, his dark green eyes widening slightly.

"Yes, actually, but I forgot your name. For the record, you had better have a good reason for stalking me," she warned in a vaguely threatening tone.

"I do- I mean, I wasn't really stalking you, I was trying to, um…" the boy stuttered, words failing him.

The yellow bird on his shoulder pecked him hard on the neck, and quacked at him angrily.

"All right," he grumbled, rubbing the spot she pecked. "Well, my name's Fakir, and you've already met Ahiru."

"Ahiru, huh?" Haru asked with a grin, holding out her hand so that the duck could land on it. She nuzzled the small bird affectionately with a gentle smile. "It's nice to know your name, little one. It suits you." She laughed a little cynically. "I'd introduce myself, but that's probably pointless by now."

"A little," he agreed, a tiny smile threatening to surface. "I'm part of the reason you're here."

She cocked her head at him. "Oh really?" she asked in a clipped tone, leaving him free to elaborate.

"Well, I sort of overheard some of the stories being told about you, and I've been wondering… did you really change into a cat last year?" he suddenly asked in a rush.

Haru stared at him, and began laughing. "You've got to be kidding," she giggled. "You dragged me over five hundred miles away from home, _just _to ask me that?"

"So it isn't true?" he asked, his shoulders slumping over.

"Oh, it's true. Becoming a cat wasn't the bad part, though. It was getting forced into that shape that made me want to start maiming people."

Fakir immediately brightened. "And you changed back into a human?" he asked excitedly.

Haru rolled her eyes at him, and started purring.

He took a step back with a startled oath as the duck in her arms quacked in astonishment.

"That was a really silly question to ask, Fakir," she scolded him with a smile. "There's still a bit of cat blood in me, but isn't it obvious that I'm a human?"

"Um, well…" he said while smiling sheepishly. "I thought that your fish pendant might change your form on command."

The bit of gold had worked its way out of the top of her shirt from the hard run she had just put herself through. Haru smiled and put one hand over it affectionately. "Oh no, this is just a gift from King Lune, for saving his life. Why are you so interested in whether I'm a cat or a human?"

Fakir gulped nervously, and looked at the small duck. "Because… I was kind of hoping you could help Ahiru."

"What's wrong with her?" she asked with concern, looking at the bird in her arms. She held one hand to her forehead to check for a fever. Then her body froze, holding up one hand before Fakir could answer her.

Like she was holding the finest of china, Haru used both hands to raise Ahiru to her face for a closer inspection. Silently, she studied that feathered face, stunned at what she saw. "Of course," she whispered, slapping her forehead in irritation.

"She has human eyes."


	12. Compassion

Warning; this chapter will be a little redundant for those familiar with the Princess Tutu plot. Please bear with me.

**Chapter Twelve: Compassion**

Haru looked up at Fakir in annoyance. "All right; just point me where to find the guy that did this to Ahiru, and I'll behead him myself."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that," he said hastily, taking two steps back from her. He held up his hands in a defensive gesture, obviously a little scared of her. "You see, she really is a duck, but she spent a lot of time as a human, and after she couldn't switch anymore, she's still part human… I'm not making any sense, am I?" he asked in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Haru sighed tiredly. She sat down next to the tree, one arm still cradling Ahiru as she set her schoolbag aside for now. "Why don't you sit down and tell me what happened, Fakir? I won't be able to do anything unless I know the details, and I don't have to go back to the Academy until noon."

"You _are _aware that Neko-sensei's looking for you, right?" he asked slowly, taking a few cautious steps before sitting next to her. "He was screaming your name around the school by the time I was able to find Juno and come after you." He gestured to his mount, which was drinking happily from the lake.

Haru sighed again. "If he finds us before you're done, we'll continue the discussion later. Please, tell me about Ahiru."

Fakir looked down at the duck fondly. "Well, it all started almost five years ago. Wait, it technically started earlier than that," he growled at himself before sighing again. "You've read 'The Prince and the Raven', haven't you?"

"Fairly recently. A friend informed me that the Raven's gone, now."

"He is. Mytho nearly didn't succeed, but thanks to Ahiru, the Raven's gone for good."

"Who's Mytho?" she asked curiously.

"The prince. His real name's Siegfried, but when I found him wandering the streets as a child, I called him Mytho, because he couldn't remember his name."

"Why not?"

"He lost his memory, and didn't know who he was. He's gotten a little of it back since regaining his heart, but his centuries-long past is still more or less a mystery to him."

"Wait, _regaining_ his heart?"

"Yes, remember? He shattered his heart to seal the Raven away."

"I've never understood that part," Haru confessed. "Did he take out his heart and break it across his knee? How did he keep living after it was shattered? How is he still alive after a few centuries?"

"Magic," Fakir answered all her questions with a shrug. "Anyway, a couple months before the Raven was defeated, a new girl came to the Academy. No one knew who her family was or where she had come from, but the strangest part was that no one cared, including me." He made a rueful face. "_Especially _me. I'm ashamed to admit it now, but I made her life as miserable as possible because no matter how hard I tried, she would always somehow end up near Mytho. I took my role as a knight a bit too seriously, and wouldn't let anyone near him."

"That girl was Ahiru, right?"

"Yes. She was clumsy, awkward, and more than a little silly at times. But she was also honest, compassionate, and so _stubborn_! Shortly after she came to the Academy… do you remember anything about a Princess Tutu?" he asked suddenly.

Haru searched her memory carefully. "The name's familiar… wait, she had a cameo in the story, didn't she?"

"That's right. It took me a while to realize it, but Ahiru was using a red pendant she always wore to turn into Princess Tutu in order to obtain the heart shards and return them to Mytho. I tried to stop her several times, but it didn't work. Mytho wanted his heart back, and there wasn't much I could do but obey his wishes. After some time, I found out that Ahiru was really a duck I was used to seeing around the school. I was… distraught," he said carefully while blushing.

Ahiru started quacking evilly.

"Why distraught? Were you gaining feelings for her as a human?" Haru asked while smirking slightly.

"No- I mean yes! I mean…" he sputtered like a young child, blushing even worse.

Haru grinned at him wickedly. "We can go back to that later. Please continue with the story."

He smiled at her gratefully. "Shortly after I found out the truth about Ahiru, she accidentally gave a poisoned heart shard to Mytho, and it turned him evil."

"How was it poisoned?" Haru asked intently.

"Rue had soaked it in the Raven's blood before Ahiru won it back from her."

"Rue… the _princess_?!" she asked incredulously. "Why on earth-"

"It wasn't her idea, and she's still very sorry she did it," Fakir answered quickly, holding up his hands in a defensive gesture again. "She's much nicer than she was back then."

"For the prince's sake, I certainly hope so," Haru muttered under her breath.

Fakir gave her a distressed look, and coughed uncomfortably. "Well, she was acting under the alias of Princess Kraehe, the Raven's champion at the time. She really did love Mytho, and realized just what she had done after he turned evil. Before he started getting his heart back, he was pretty much a puppet without emotion. When Princess Tutu was giving him his heart shards, he started developing a backbone and personality. He was becoming warm and affectionate when Rue poisoned his heart shard.

"After that, Mytho turned cruel. He took over her position as the Raven's champion, and started looking for pure hearts to feed to his new master. Luckily, Ahiru and I were able to save all his intended victims, although they were very close misses. We kept looking for more heart shards to give to Mytho, even when he changed into a half-crow. Near the end, he was starting to realize how lonely he was, and went back to Rue. She didn't think she was worthy of him anymore, but when the Monster Raven tried to eat Mytho's heart, she offered her own instead."

Haru felt something wet fall onto her wrist. She looked down with surprise, noticing that Ahiru was crying silently into one of her sleeves. A glance at Fakir showed that he was crying as well, but he might not have been aware of it.

"Rue's love confession was one of the most beautiful I'll ever hear, Haru. All her life, all she had ever wanted was love, and she was willing to sacrifice even that for Mytho's safety. Well, the confession somehow purified Mytho's body and heart until he looked like a human again, and the Raven swallowed her whole." He swallowed painfully.

"I think I forgot to mention this earlier, but Ahiru had been in love with Mytho since the moment she saw him, in her original form as a duck. Rue had also loved him ever since she met him. He had been switching between them until this time, when he realized that it was Rue he wanted as his princess. Ahiru couldn't breathe a word about her own feelings, because she'd turn into a spark of light if she ever confessed her love to a man."

"Oh, Ahiru," she whispered tearfully, holding the duck to her shoulder for a compromised hug.

The little duck clung to her with tiny wings, her breathing sharp with suppressed cries.

Fakir sighed sadly again. "The pendant she had been using to turn into a human and Princess Tutu was the last heart shard; the essence of Mytho's royal rank. In order for him to defeat the Raven and win Rue back, Ahiru had to give up everything she had gained as a human. But you know what the strangest thing about that day was? Even as a duck, Ahiru could still inspire hope. If it weren't for her, the Raven would have won, and Kinkan Town would still be drowned in darkness."

Haru rubbed her cheek against the bird's head, fighting back a sob of her own. "None of that ordeal was easy, was it, Ahiru?"

She quacked sadly while shaking her head.

"You poor girl," Haru whispered, tears still falling down her face. She held the tiny duck closer, feeling strangely honored to have been told her story. "How many know the truth about her?"

"Me, Rue, Mytho, Autor, and you. Oh, and Uzura. She's a living puppet that my step-father made. She disappeared after the Raven was defeated, but at least she had the decency to tell me that she probably wasn't coming back."

Haru looked at him curiously, using one sleeve to wipe away her tears. "Who's Autor?"

Fakir laughed a little. "He's the head librarian and pianist at Mytho's castle, but when all this happened, he was a fellow student that was obsessed with my ancestor, Drosselmeyer."

"Drosselmeyer?" Haru whispered, trying to remember why the name felt so familiar.

"He's the one that wrote the story," Fakir reminded her with a gentle smile. "He had intended for the story to end in tragedy, but he died before finishing it. I inherited his power, so I finished his work for him, but on _my _terms. When Mytho was battling the Raven, Autor was beating away an Order that was trying to chop off my hands. They didn't want me to bring more tragedy to the village, and refused to listen when I tried to tell them I was going a different direction than that."

"_This _looks like a tragedy to me, Fakir," Haru said in an ominous tone, pointing at the duck on her lap. "After everything she's done, I think she should be left with at least a small consolation prize, don't you?"

A boyish grin took over his face. "I was hoping you'd feel that way."

Carefully, Haru took the duck into both of her hands, and looked her straight in the eye. "Ahiru, do you wish to be a human again?"

She nodded while managing a small smile.

Haru looked over at Fakir, and grinned a little wickedly. "Would the knight over here happen to be part of the reason you want to change species again?"

Ahiru blushed, looked over at the dark youth, and nodded shyly. Then she locked eyes with the brunette, letting all her pain and hope be clearly seen. Her large blue eyes shimmered slightly in the morning sun, just keeping more tears at bay, but only just.

Haru couldn't resist a gaze like that for long. She smiled, and kissed the duck's forehead gently. "Well, little one; I have some bad news and good news. The bad news is that I can't do a thing to change you."

"What?" Fakir asked in a panic.

"-But the good news is that I happen to be on friendly terms with someone that probably can. Even if I can't get them to pay us a personal visit, they could probably point us in the right direction. Two of them fight like no one's business, but they're effective. Would you like me to contact them for you?"

Ahiru started quacking excitedly and nodding her head like a maniac.

Haru giggled a little and held the small duck against her collarbone for a compromised hug. "I'll do it tonight when I'm alone, then. If they can come, I bet it won't take over a week. Don't worry, Ahiru; you'll be featherless in no time, if I have anything to say about it."

"_Thank you_," Fakir said gratefully, actually bowing to Haru, despite the fact that he was still sitting on the ground. "Is there anything I could help you with in return?"

"That's not how I work-" Haru cut herself off, pondering. "You said that Rue was the Raven's Champion?"

His dark green eyes became a little troubled, but she couldn't place why. "That's right."

"Do you think she might tell me where the remains of his lair is, if I asked nicely enough? He stole…"

Her heart throbbed painfully. She pressed one hand to it, and tried again. "He stole something _very_ precious to me when you and I were toddlers, and I want to see if I can get it back. It's a bit of a family obsession."

Fakir slowly smiled, but there was a trace of smugness in the gesture. "I think she could tell you that, if you're really all that interested. She's been wanting to meet you ever since I told her about your little adventure last year."

"Is there a way we can-" Haru started asking eagerly, before she was caught off-guard by a loud shout.

"HARU-SAMA!" Neko-sensei suddenly yelled from directly behind the tree.

The advanced schoolgirl hopped out of her place with a surprised hiss on her lips. Her reflexes allowed her to jump high enough to land on one of the tree's branches, but she wasn't about to let Neko-sensei see her from _that _angle.

Instead, she dangled from a sturdy branch with one hand, since Ahiru was still cradled in the other arm. "Don't you _ever _sneak up on me like that again!" she hissed dangerously at the giant cat before allowing herself to land safely on the ground again.

Neko-sensei looked from her to Fakir and back with suspicion. "Just what were you up to, Haru-sama?" he asked in a low growl.

"Renewing a friendship with me," the knight said in an equally dangerous tone, one hand beckoning towards Ahiru.

She flew from Haru's arm to his without hesitation, looking nervously at Neko-sensei.

"I guess we'll continue our conversation later," Haru said reluctantly while picking up her schoolbag. "Can you tell the princess I'd love to make her acquaintance in the near future?"

"I'll tell her right now," Fakir promised, hopping onto his mount. "Would you like a ride back to the school?"

"I'd love one," she said quickly before Neko-sensei could protest.

Fakir reached out one hand to hurriedly help her onto his mount. She slipped into the saddle behind him with ease, and took a firm grip of his cloak's shoulders as the horse began to run.

"Wait, Haru-sama!" Neko-sensei tried to call out to her desperately, but he was already falling far behind.

"Thanks," she told Fakir gratefully, holding on tight to ensure that she wouldn't fall off.

"No problem," he said easily, maneuvering Juno around the trees with ease. "But you shouldn't let Neko-sensei bother you, Haru. One of his favorite threats to the female students is marriage, but I doubt he actually means it."

"I haven't heard that one yet, but he tried to make me kiss him as a penalty," Haru admitted while shuddering.

Fakir stole a hasty look back at her before looking forward again. "Are you serious? A whole day went by when he didn't threaten a girl with marriage? That's never happened before."

"If he tries it with me, I'll tie his tail into a hangman's noose," Haru growled ominously.

Fakir laughed, the sound of his voice strangely strained. "I bet you would, too."


	13. Annoyance

**Chapter Thirteen: Annoyance**

All through the day, Haru couldn't keep her mind on her classes. A nervous bubble of excitement was steadily growing in her heart, and it was all she could do to suppress it.

The princess probably knew things about the Raven that no one else did. With a little luck-

"Haru-san!" Paulo suddenly said, shaking her from her private thoughts.

She straightened up in her chair, her face a little flushed. "Sorry, Paulo-sensei," she apologized as a few of the other students snickered at her a little.

He gave them a stern look, and plinked on two of the piano keys as he sat down on the bench. "You're new, Haru-san, so there's something you're not aware of. In my class, when someone's caught not paying attention, they get to give us a little concert. Come up here and pick out a song to sing for us."

Haru sighed a little in acceptance, and slipped out of her seat. _'At least it's a better penalty than what Neko-sensei tried to pull.'_ She smoothed out her skirt, and walked to the front of the class. "Does it matter what I sing?" she asked casually, since months of hitting karaoke bars with Hiromi back in Tokyo had numbed her to singing in public. Her voice wasn't a show-stopper, but it wasn't anything she needed to be embarrassed about, either.

"Not really, but it will help if I know the notes. Any requests?" he called out to the other students.

"Two Left Feet!" one girl with a snotty voice called out.

"Not in my classroom. Any others?" Paulo asked, looking around the room.

"My Poor Meatball!" another girl said while laughing.

"Ate a Peanut!"

"Can't anyone think of something more _dignified_?!" Paulo demanded, standing up from the bench in order to look around the large shelves worth of music books. "Don't worry, I'll find something."

A small bit of yellow at the window caught Haru's eye. She casually looked over to see Ahiru on the other side of the glass, her expression slightly sad and a little envying.

Haru's heart broke for her again, just before an idea hit her. "Is it all right if I sing without the piano?" she asked suddenly.

Paulo looked over at her with confusion. "Um, sure. But remember to keep it school-appropriate."

"Just trust me." The words slipped out before she could stop them. But she ignored the ache in her chest, drew in a deep breath, and looked straight at Ahiru. _'Just for a few minutes, __**I'll **__be your voice, little one.' _

"_Hands touch, eyes meet. Sudden silence, sudden heat. Hearts leap in a giddy world; he could be that boy. But I'm not that girl._"

Ahiru's jaw fell open with shock.

But Haru kept singing in her soft soprano voice, channeling the sad song from what she knew the little duck had to have been feeling for all these years. "_Don't dream too far, don't lose sight of who you are. Don't remember that rush of joy. He could be that boy; I'm not that girl._" A terrible ache once again flooded her chest, but she didn't dare to stop to favor her own wounds. "_Every so often we long to steal to the land of 'what might have been', but that doesn't soften the ache we feel when reality sets back in._"

Ahiru was crying now, but there was a strange light in her eyes. It almost looked like fear, but Haru couldn't imagine why her voice would terrify her little friend. She shrugged it off, and kept singing.

"_Glad smile, lithe limb. She is winsome, she wins __**him**__._" She thought fast, just realizing that no one had told her what Princess Rue looked like. "_Long hair with a gentle curl, that's the girl he chose_," she improvised, changing the lyrics slightly to suit Ahiru's sad predicament, since she felt strangely certain that the princess _did _have flowing hair. It didn't matter if anyone here had heard of the original song; she was just ordered to sing. "_And heaven knows I'm not that girl._"

There was originally a small bit of just music inserted after that line, but Haru ignored it. She knew that the pause would only confuse everyone except her."_Don't wish, don't start; wishing only wounds the heart. I wasn't born for the rose and pearl. There's a girl I know; he loves her so. I'm not that girl._"

Haru knew she hit her mark by the sorrowful and slightly awed look on Ahiru's face. She smiled a little, and added some new lines to the song to let her new friend know that there was still hope. "_Don't dream too far, don't lose sight of who you are. I won't wish, and I won't start; wishing only wounds the heart. I won't dream, but I'm gonna pray, that maybe someday…__**I'll **__be that girl_." She smiled warmly, curtsied to the class, and walked back to her seat.

"…Thank you, Haru-san," Paulo said a little reverently as he laboriously moved back to his chalkboard. "That was very lovely. Please stay behind after class; I want you to tell me where to find the music for that piece."

"Yes, sir," Haru said obediently, sneaking another peak out the window.

Ahiru was still staring at her, one wing to her mouth like she was holding back another cry.

"_That was for you_," Haru mouthed, her face filled with compassion. She couldn't help but feel unusually close to the bird, probably due to their mutual problems surrounding the pursuit of love.

No, she liked Ahiru long before she found out the truth about her…

Ahiru smiled around her orange beak lovingly, and did a strange curtsy with her wings before flying off to who knew where.

A small bit of red began to appear just underneath the window frame, but Haru forced herself to look away. Just because she didn't mind singing didn't mean that she'd sign up to do it again. Even if that particular song had a certain amount of _personal _application.

Except Baron would have told her by now, if there was another girl in the picture.

'_How long am I going to torture myself about this? Baron doesn't love me, I need to move on, end of discussion. Except who could possibly hold a candle to __**him**__? And actually be interested in me at the same time?'_ She sighed and tried again to put the thought from her mind. After taking a couple notes, she snuck a glance at her fellow students. They were pointedly looking away from her while scowling, but there were a few that weren't ignoring her.

One girl with poofy yellow hair, caught up in two piggy tails, was gazing at her almost worshipfully, but then turned back to her notes when the girl seated next to her poked one elbow to bring her attention to the front.

That one had light purple hair, caught up in a slightly tight bun. The sterner-looking girl also gave Haru a slightly stunned look, but then returned to her studies.

Haru looked to the front as well, but watched the two from the corner of her eye as Paulo lectured on musical history. The two girls were some of the rare ones to look guilty the day before, when she was trying to find a place to sit at lunch. Were they just giving her the cold shoulder because everyone else was?

Haru sighed, trying to forget about it. Perhaps with enough time, she would be able to convince the students that she wasn't a snob or whatever they were assuming her to be.

But first things first. She still had a sister to locate.

ooOoo

"Thanks, Haru-san," Paulo said while grinning at her, folding away the small piece of paper she had written the internet address on.

"No problem, feel free to tell me if the computer gives you any trouble!" she said cheerfully. She closed the door behind her and ran for a corner at the end of the hall. She rounded it with ease before bumping against something big and soft. She looked up and groaned. _'Oh no, here we go again.'_

"Haru, we _have _to talk," Neko-sensei said urgently, grabbing both of her shoulders.

"_If _you don't mind," she said acidly while slipping from between his paws. "I like to have a bit of personal space, thanks all the same."

"That's going to get invaded," he told her in a dead serious voice. "Be honest; have you been… receiving notes or presents of any kind since arriving in Kinkan Academy?"

Haru stopped dead in her backward retreat. Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms, the schoolbag still in one hand. "I know you're not the one sending them."

"That's right, I'm not. I wish I thought of it, though," he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," she informed him with steel in her voice. "And for the record, I think it's creepy."

Neko-sensei stiffened, and began washing his face frantically. "Haru, you need to understand that the one sending you the gifts is _not _the gentleman he's trying to make you believe he is. He's a scoundrel that will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and he wants _you_."

"He wouldn't happen to be related to you, would he?" Haru asked with a resigned sigh.

The purple and tan feline stiffened in horror. "You _knew_?"

"I do now. Tell me who he is."

He gulped nervously. "I think it would be better if you don't know."

"Neko-sensei!" Haru said in a sharp tone. "I've been stalked ever since I came to the island, and there's been substantial evidence that I was being stalked long before then! I'm getting sick and tired of not being able to do anything without being observed by a complete stranger! If you don't tell me who your smitten kinsman is, I'll be forced to tie a hangman's noose with your tail!" Haru stopped in her tirade, and put one fist to her chin. "Is the proper term 'kinscat', considering the circumstances?"

The giant feline was shaking in his specially made shoes. "Please, Haru-sama," he begged, holding up his front paws in the same defensive gesture that Fakir had done a few hours before. "You have to trust me on this-"

"_Trust_? _**You**_?" Haru gave a cynical laugh. "I can't even trust you enough to behave during private lessons, and you expect me to listen to you when a rival appears?!"

"I'll start behaving," he promised impulsively, bowing low in front of her like a slave. "I'll do whatever it takes to win your trust."

Haru looked at him, feeling a wrench of pity. "I know what you really want from me, Neko-sensei," she said a little formally. "You've been painfully obvious about your feelings ever since I arrived."

He looked up at her hopefully.

"That's why I need to tell you the truth right now, before you do something foolish to try winning my love. I've already given my heart to a gentleman; the finest I'll ever have the honor to meet."

"You've _what_?!" he screeched, leaping to his feet. He grabbed her by the shoulders again, and started shaking her slightly. "Not my cousin!"

"Ah ha, so your _cousin's _the one stalking me," Haru said triumphantly. "But no, he's not the one. _My _gentleman lives in Tokyo." _'Much to my chagrin,' _she thought mournfully.

Neko-sensei looked at her desperately, like he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or mortified still. "But… you couldn't have," he stammered.

Haru's eyes became almost glacial as she pinched his wrists. "How much would you like to bet?" she hissed, pushing him away a bit. "I don't need anyone's permission to give my heart away, including yours. My heart belongs to another, and that's the way it is, Neko-sensei. If you'll excuse me, it's lunchtime."

"Wait!" he called out desperately, grabbing one of her wrists possessively. "Did he _accept_ your heart? And give you his own in return?"

Even if he had seen the hand coming, he wouldn't have been able to dodge it. His thick fur padded the deafening slap, but it was still hard enough to send him stumbling for several steps, only gaining balance by leaning against one of the school's walls.

"This counts for sexual harassment," Haru growled at him, her eyes turning dangerous again. "Either you shape up immediately, or I'll go to whoever's in charge of the Academy and let _them _take care of you. If they happen to turn a blind eye, I'll take care of you myself, and you do _not _want that. I'll show up for class Monday morning, but that's your last chance. Have a good day," she snapped at him while turning on her heel.

"Oh, I almost forgot; if you **ever **try to threaten me with marriage, I'll make you wish you had never been born!" Without another word, she marched down the hall, and slammed the door while leaving the building. _'Thank heaven today's Friday. How on earth am I going to beat him away for two years?!'_

Neko-sensei slowly straightened against the wall, one paw to his slightly swollen cheek as his golden eyes glowed with relief. "She didn't say yes!"

ooOoo

Haru was still muttering to herself as she approached the large bridge in front of the school, nearly stomping with every step. "How dare that overgrown feline try to tell _me _how to live my love life! He was acting like we were already a couple!" She hissed with irritation. "If he messes with my grades for revenge, he'll get a couple of fists, I can guarantee that!"

"Bravo, senorita," a scratchy voice from nowhere suddenly applauded her, a strange laughter following his words. "Make the freak pay for telling you to do bad things!"

"Oh no, not another one," she groaned, looking all around the bridge she was standing on for the newest intrusion on her life. "I swear that I'm not worth this much effort!"

"The boss thinks differently, senorita," the voice answered with another cackle. "I'm by the bird statue, if you wish to find me!"

Sighing, Haru finished walking across the bridge, studying the twin statues carefully for another cat.

"The left one, senorita."

Haru looked at the indicated one, and bit back a scream.

Instead of yet another cat, there was a spider as big as a kitten! "I take you to the boss, yes?" he asked in a thick accent, one that the human girl couldn't name.

"Excuse me?" Haru whispered, the question slightly shrill as she struggled not to scream and run away like a scared little girl. _'And I used to think that a talking cat was a crazy idea!'_

"The boss, he leaves pretty things in your room for you. He likes you very much; talks about you all the time."

"I see," Haru said softly, forcing herself to remain calm. "Would he happen to watch me all the time as well?"

"Si, all the time," he assured her with a toothy grin. "You like to meet him, yes?"

Haru bit her lip, and looked at the stone building on the other side of the bridge.

"Do not worry about the big one. He and the boss have hated each other forever," the spider assured her.

"Great," Haru muttered, holding one had to her forehead to combat the upcoming headache. "Now I'm in the middle of a family feud."

"No feud, no competition between him and the boss. The boss is just better and the cousin is jealous of him, that's all. You come, yes? The boss has a nice picnic waiting for you."

"Raw fish and shaved mice, I suppose?" she asked in resignation.

"Oh no, he has human foods, things he knows you like! He's been working on the picnic since early morning. I take you to him, yes?" he asked again hopefully.

Haru bit her lip. Should she? Would it be wise? But that scent was so _familiar_, and it only stood to reason that she was as curious as a cat herself. Neko-sensei _could _have been trying to protect her, but it was also equally possible that he was trying to get rid of any rival that appeared, even his own flesh and blood.

Her own blood boiled, remembering the hurtful question that he had asked her. Maybe the answer she had given him would work on his cousin, if worse came to worse. "If I come, will he explain everything and stop being mysterious?" she asked slowly, since she had been told that there was no further danger on the island.

"Si, he wants to tell you lots of things!"

Haru sighed, and nodded at the talkative spider. "All right. I'll come."

ooOoo

'I'm Not That Girl' is from the musical 'Wicked', and the extra lines were included in the fifth anniversary special edition CD. They didn't feel appropriate to Elphaba's situation, but they do in Ahiru's case, wouldn't you say? Besides the line that Haru admitted to altering, it completely belongs to other people, not me.


	14. Despair

**Chapter Fourteen: Despair**

The spider smiled toothily at her, and quickly crawled off the statue and bridge. "You follow me, senorita!"

"Following," Haru sighed reluctantly. She gripped her schoolbag a little tighter, and began jogging after him.

The spider was surprisingly fast, but he had nothing on Muta. Haru thought that she could see some of the other students giving her a strange look as she chased the large arachnid into the bushes and past the trees surrounding the village. One or two people tried to stop her, but she didn't have the time to deal with them right now.

'_WHAT AM I DOING?! Did I learn nothing from __**last **__time I blindly accepted an invitation from a cat?!' _She grimaced from the memory, slowing down slightly in order to dodge branches and thorns.

"We're almost there, senorita!" the spider called behind him happily, just before they reached a small meadow.

Haru stumbled slightly as the bushes caught at her skirt, but she brushed the branches away as she stared shamelessly.

There was a large white and red blanket, woven into a plaid pattern, covering a shady spot under a tree perhaps twenty feet from them. A variety of foods was laid out, but they weren't what Haru was staring at.

It was the cat that had been sitting on the blanket. His green eyes lit up happily as he saw her. He rose to his feet, his long red cape flowing over his shoulders and down his back as he straightened a matching top hat, and strode over to her on his hind legs.

Haru's heart froze slightly as he stopped a decent two feet from her, and took off the top hat in order to place it over his heart.

Just like Baron had done when they first met.

"I'm thrilled that you accepted my invitation, Miss Haru," the brown cat informed her with an easy smile.

Even his deep voice and accent reminded her of the Cat Creation.

"I hope that Chula didn't give you too much trouble." He gave the spider a stern look to make it retreat from the meadow for now.

Haru couldn't stop staring at him. He actually looked a little bit like she had while under the Cat Kingdom's influence, with dark brown fur over the top portion of his face and down his back with a light tan covering the bottom part of his face. He wore a white shirt like Baron did, but the collar was turned up, almost showcasing a thin black cord that had been tied around his throat for a modest bow in the front.

Like an old-fashioned gentleman, but from a different era than Baron.

Haru kneeled down in order to get a closer look at him, since he was a regular-sized cat. "Drat," she finally said after a few minutes.

"What's wrong?" he asked with sudden alarm, since he had obviously been enjoying her undivided attention.

"You look familiar, but I can't remember why," Haru admitted sheepishly, trying to get her heart rate under control. _'He's not Baron, you dunce!'_

He looked a little disappointed, but adjusted the hat onto his head again. "I rather suspected that would be the case, Miss Haru. You _were _just over a year old when your family moved from the island. My name is Cat R. Waul, and I was your constant companion when you lived here. We used to go everywhere together," he said wistfully with a sad smile.

"If that's so, why did I remember Fakir instead of you?"

A flicker of annoyance crossed his face as he adjusted his spectacle slightly. "The mind is a fluid thing, Miss Haru. Who knows why it chooses one path over another?" He sighed, and gestured to the food-covered blanket. "Would you care to join me for lunch, my dear? We have much to catch up on."

"Sure," Haru sighed. _'Why do I suddenly have the feeling that this is not going to end well?'_

Cat R. Waul led her to the blanket like a grand host, and anxiously made sure that she was comfortable before sitting himself. "Would you care for some fresh strawberries?" he asked while holding out a small bowl's worth of them.

"Sure," Haru said, politely taking one. "So, Mr. Waul, what have you been up to since I left?"

"Oh, this and that," he said casually, his eyes flickering with a small trace of annoyance. "I suppose you don't remember your own name for me?"

"Not really. What would you prefer me to call you?"

"Reginald will do. To be honest, your old name for me was just a trifle demeaning."

"What was it?" she asked curiously, making him shudder very slightly under his cloak.

"Perhaps it would be best to leave that name in the past where it belongs, Miss Haru. Just out of curiosity, is that overgrown fool giving you a little too much trouble? Because if so-"

"Your cousin? Nothing I can't handle," Haru replied confidently before taking a bite out of a small cucumber sandwich. "If he doesn't shape up soon, he has a fair idea of what I'm planning to do to him."

A wicked smile lit up his face. "May I watch, if it's not too much trouble?"

Haru shrugged. "No skin off my back. Just wondering, but if you're cousins, how come you hate each other so much? And why is Neko-sensei so much taller than you?"

Reginald stiffened slightly, but quickly put on another smile for her. "I'm afraid my cousin and I have never gotten along, Miss Haru. He doesn't quite understand the meaning of 'dignity', and that always made family functions a little hard to cope with. He's a bit of a black sheep, if you get my meaning."

"I get it," Haru muttered under her breath.

"As for his… _unusual _size, one can only speculate. He has a theory, but it's so ludicrous that I refuse to bother you with it."

"How ludicrous are we talking?" she asked while pouring a small glass of milk for him, then herself.

Reginald rolled his eyes before delicately sipping her offering. "Ludicrous enough that I wouldn't try to even make you laugh with it. Just trust me, my dear; my cousin's a little delusional. Are you _certain _you don't want me to get him out of the way for you?"

"I appreciate the thought, but I can handle him. Granted, I might need a whip, but I can handle it. Speaking of which, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"Feel free," he said eagerly.

"How on earth have you been getting into my room after I lock it up?" she asked sternly.

He chuckled a little. "A mere lock could not keep me out of _any _room."

"You're a cat burglar?" she asked with a straight face.

"What, no," he hastily assured her, his eyes a little panicked. "I just have a little talent for slipping into places where I'm not strictly welcome. Did you enjoy my gifts?" he asked with concern.

"The flowers were nice, but the comb was a little too fancy for me."

If he had been anyone other than himself, he would have gaped at her. "Too… fancy?" he gasped.

"It _was _lovely," Haru admitted, in an attempt to soften the blow. "But really; where would I wear something like that? It'd get stolen in a heartbeat if I ever tried to leave it in the locker room."

"True," he said cautiously as a subtle blush began to cross his features. "Perhaps you would consent to wear it, if I took you out to dinner?"

Haru stared at him blankly for a whole minute, and sighed in resignation. "Reginald, can you answer me one question?" she asked sadly.

"Name it," he said while leaning towards her eagerly.

"Why is it that only cats find me attractive?" she asked in a small voice. "Think about it. I'm a human; I should be attracting male _humans_, not felines."

Reginald stared at her incredulously. "You were never told, were you?" he asked her almost formally.

She looked over at him sharply. "I was never told what?" she asked in a low dangerous tone.

He sighed. "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out by now, Miss Haru. A human male is _not _in your future. You were destined for a feline husband since before you were born. Anyone with a trace of magic in his blood could see that. Or smell it. Your pheromones are that of a cat's, Miss Haru."

Her heart turned as cold as ice. Without thinking, she raised one wrist to her nose and took in a deep sniff. "Oh no," she whispered in horror. "The Cat Kingdom! I didn't quite get out on time!"

"Your little adventure last year has nothing to do with your scent," Reginald tried to assure her. "You've smelled like a cat since the day you were born. I would know; I was there."

"Destined?" Haru asked numbly, her body swaying slightly.

"Perhaps if you were to rest a bit," he said worriedly while reaching out to touch her wrist.

Haru stood up without warning, and grabbed her schoolbag. "I have to go," she whispered in a choked sob. Without another word, she started running.

"Haru, wait-" Reginald tried to say before something solid collided with him.

She thought she _might _have heard Neko-sensei screaming savagely, but that could have been the sound of her broken heart.

"_Destined_?" she whispered to herself raggedly, once the grey buildings of Kinkan Town were in view. Her feet stumbled slightly on the uneven earth, sending her against a tree to regain her breath. "A _cat_?!"

She shouldn't have been so shocked. She could count the number of males that had expressed admiration for her on one hand, barely, and _all _of them had been feline, at least partially.

What did this mean? Was she supposed to become a cat, tower over her husband in her original form, or was he supposed to change for her? What would the **children **look like?! Would she even have any children?

"Oh, Baron," she sobbed, sliding down the tree so that she could huddle into a little ball. Her heart was in agony, feeling like someone was repeatedly stabbing it with a kitchen knife. _'Was this what he was trying to tell me? That if I was going to marry a cat, it couldn't be him? I hate my life.'_

"Haru?" a gentle voice asked.

She stifled another sob to look up at Fakir, who was leaning over her in a strangely protective gesture. She managed a weak little smile. "Can I be alone right now?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

Fakir's face tightened angrily. He shook his head while sitting down next to her, transferring Ahiru from his shoulder to her lap. "Not a chance, Haru. Tell me what happened."

She looked down in shame. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Did Neko-sensei attack you?!" he demanded, but she shook her head.

"No, not me. He got into a fight with his cousin, though. I'm such an _idiot_, Fakir."

"You are not," he retorted indignantly, grabbing one of her hands so that he could squeeze it comfortingly. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."

She swallowed hard, and opened her mouth slightly. "Fakir, if _you _were the one destined to marry outside your species, what would you do?"

He looked at her, his dark green eyes betraying only a hint of confusion. Then he looked down at her lap, where Ahiru was putting as much of her wingspan as she could manage around Haru's chest in a compromised hug.

Haru also looked down at the yellow duck, realizing just how silly it was to ask _him_, of all people.

"I doubt I'd do anything different than what I'm doing right now," he answered with a gentle smile, squeezing one of her shoulders in a gentle manner. "I'd follow my heart. No matter what species you're destined to be bound to, I recommend you do the same."

Haru looked over at him, and managed a soft smile. "Thanks, Fakir. That helped a little."

He gave her another smile, and hesitated. "I was going to tell you that Rue's inviting you over to the castle tomorrow. Should I tell her you need time?"

"No," Haru answered a little more firmly than she had intended. She sighed, wrapping one arm around Ahiru's body to return the hug. "I've wasted too much time already. I'll be fine by morning, I promise."

"Are you sure?" he asked with concern.

She nodded, and struggled to get to her feet. "I have to be." She rubbed one sleeve over her eyes to finish drying them, and kissed Ahiru's forehead gently. "No matter who falls, life goes on, whether you're ready for it or not."

Fakir looked at her, still so concerned. Just before she managed to walk away, he gently grabbed her wrist. "Hey, don't forget to take care of yourself, Haru."

She smiled a little wanly, pressing one hand to the front of her shirt, just over her heart. "I'll do my best. Ahiru, did you want to attend class with me?"

The duck looked a little uncertain. There was a longing in those eyes, but also fear of something Haru couldn't place.

"It wouldn't be a good idea," Fakir said gently while taking her from Haru. "There are big cats and crocodiles running around in there, remember?"

"Yeah," Haru managed with a giggle, curtsying to the two of them. "So, when does Rue want me tomorrow?"

"I can pick you up after nine, so you can have breakfast," the knight answered her with a slightly smug grin. "The guards let me come and go as I please, and they might not know to let you through if you just walk to the castle."

"Good point," she laughed, almost forgetting about her pain. "Thanks for cheering me up. Both of you," she added, giving Ahiru another sad smile. "But I better get going."

"The bell rang two minutes ago," Fakir informed her, gesturing with one hand for her to go ahead and leave.

She managed another hasty bow before running down the road to the Academy, nearly at the speed of light.

ooOoo

Can anyone guess where Cat R. Waul and Chula were borrowed from?


	15. Yearning

**Chapter Fifteen: Yearning**

Haru was able to keep her mind occupied for the rest of the school day, between classes and dodging Neko-sensei. But once it was over, she was left to her own devices, which didn't seem to work as well.

She had reached the cafeteria in time to snag a table by herself, absently pushing her lasagna over her plate. She took a small nibble now and again, but she didn't have much of an appetite.

'_If Baron knew, how come he never said anything? Or Muta, for that matter? Maybe __**this **__explains why none of them ever bother to question my love life. They already knew that it doesn't exist. No wonder Neko-sensei was so shocked about me being in love already.' _Her expression turned a little stern. _'Well, destiny or not, if my fate's going to be tying the knot with a cat, it's going to be the one __**I **__choose. But the one I want doesn't want me… It looks like I only have one choice left; be alone for the rest of my life. It's not what I really want, but I __**refuse **__to try forcing Baron to love me. It wouldn't work, anyway.'_

"Um, hello, Haru-sama," a soft voice said from over her head.

Haru snapped to attention with a gasp, looking around frantically.

"Calm down, no teacher's going to make you sing again," another girl laughed, walking around the table in order for Haru to see her. "Mind if we eat with you? All the other tables are full."

"Please feel free," Haru answered politely, recognizing the two as the girls who had been staring at her during music class. If they had been staring at her in later classes, she had been too distraught to notice.

The girl with the blonde pigtails smiled at her shyly while sitting next to her friend. "I'm Lilie, and this is Pique."

Haru nodded while smiling politely. "Nice to meet you. It feels so awkward for people to introduce themselves to me when I can't do the same."

Pique laughed at that. "I bet it does. How does it feel to be famous, Haru-sama?"

"I hate it," she replied flatly. "I hate all the extra attention, I hate other people treating me like a snob when I'm not, and I hate being singled out."

Both girls twitched a bit in their chairs, suddenly looking a little nervous.

Haru sighed and sipped her water. "I'm sorry. I've been on tight nerves for hours, but I shouldn't take it out on you two. You had nothing to do with what's bothering me."

Pique bit her lip nervously. "It's okay. We liked your song."

Haru nodded her thanks, nibbling at her piece of French bread.

"It really reminded me of a girl that disappeared from the Academy a couple years back," Lilie continued, looking a little sad. "She had a huge crush on the prince before we found out he was the prince. We think that the ravens ate her, but Sir Fakir refuses to say what happened to her."

Haru looked at her with interest. "You knew Ahiru?"

They stared at her with shock.

"Fakir's been telling me about her," Haru quickly explained, her face turning slightly red from their scrutiny. "She sounded like such a sweet, sad girl."

"She was," Pique said slowly, her blue eyes still wide with shock. "But you actually got him to _talk _to you about her?!"

"It came up in the conversation," Haru glossed over, taking another bite of lasagna.

"No way! Sir Fakir _never _talks about her!" Lilie protested.

Haru shrugged, and took another sip of water. "Could you tell me a little bit more about her? She sounds like such an interesting person."

"Sure-" Lilie tried to say before Pique slammed a hand over her mouth.

"How about a trade?" the violet-haired girl said with a naughty smile. "You tell us about the Cat Kingdom, and we'll tell you about Ahiru."

Haru sighed a little tiredly. "Don't you get enough stories from Neko-sensei?"

Pique shrugged while releasing an excited Lilie. "Well, we know that at least a few of the stories aren't true, because you don't breath fire when you get angry, and no one's seen you with any type of weapon since you've arrived."

"Weapon?" Haru asked curiously.

"Neko-sensei says that you can blow out candles with a whip," Lilie supplied.

Haru promptly began laughing helplessly.

If she had bothered to look up, she would have noticed that the cafeteria had turned dead silent, every face and ear turned to her.

"If I could do that, I wouldn't have needed the Cat Bureau's help," she managed to say after a few minutes of suppressed laughter.

"Cat Bureau?" the two girls asked in unison, using the same bewildered tone she had.

Haru stared at them incredulously. Then she sighed, and pulled her chair in a little closer. "All right, I'll tell you what _really _happened last year. But remember; I want to hear all about Ahiru during breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Deal," Lilie squealed, pulling her own chair up a bit closer while Pique did the same.

Haru started the story on the moment she had been walking home with Hiromi, and a strange cat had walked past her. She described how it felt to run in front of a truck, and then be thanked for it by a talking cat.

"Why is that unusual?" Pique asked her out of the blue.

"In Japan, and the rest of the world, animals don't usually talk to humans," Haru explained, feeling like a snob for putting it that way. "This place is very different from Tokyo, so I was shocked when it happened. Later that night…"

Haru kept talking, describing her fear in vivid detail when she realized that Lune's father intended for her to join the royal family. He voice turned soft as she introduced the Cat Bureau to the story, not noticing how the other students were beginning to crowd around her table while talking about how it felt to change into a feline. She glossed over how Baron rescued her from the banquet hall, since that was still a very precious memory for her. But she made up for it by describing the Cat King's labyrinth, and the fake walls his subjects were carrying around to deceive her, Baron, and Muta with.

"… and they were lined up like **dominoes**, for crying out loud! All Baron had to do was kick down that first one, and they fell all the way to the base of the tower, making an actual _path _for us!"

Haru nearly leapt from her chair when the girls surrounding her table started laughing their heads off. She blushed, turning a dark crimson color, since she hadn't noticed that Pique and Lilie weren't the only ones listening to her.

"Go on!" the formerly obnoxious redhead giggled. "What happened next?!"

She took a deep breath for courage, and kept talking. "The portal tower is roughly five times as big as the clock tower is here, and lined with a spiraling staircase…"

The students gasped when she reached the part where Lune's father blew up the tower from under her.

"Baron's the only reason I didn't die that time. I was immediately lifted away by the strong wind current, but he was able to give me one end of his cane so that I wouldn't fly away…"

When she came to Lune's proposal for Yuki, Lilie began crying into a small hankie.

"That's beautiful!" she cried, only for the other girls to shush her.

With a shudder of revulsion, Haru repeated the Cat King's proposal to her, and then her response. While the girls were still giggling, she hurried on to the second round of stairs, and the duel that Baron had later told her about.

"Just like that, in one stroke, the crown broke and almost all his fur fell off!" she said almost proudly, glowing in Baron's accomplishments.

The other girls laughed appreciatively, some even falling on their sides with laughter.

Glancing at the clock, she realized that dinner was over more than an hour ago, but another glance showed why the cooks hadn't protested.

"What happened when you reached the top?" one of the cooks asked eagerly.

Deciding to wrap it up for the night, Haru described how it felt to change back into a human, and then go skydiving without proper guidance after she fell from the portal.

"Luckily, Toto was waiting for us with a _lot _of his friends, and they managed to cushion our fall before allowing me to walk on their backs like a stairway. They safely deposited me on top of my old school's roof, and we said goodbye."

"Wait, just like that?" Pique asked incredulously.

Haru grinned at her, since she wasn't about to spill on her first love confession to Baron. "The Bureau's been keeping in touch with me since then."

They didn't need to know all the details of that.

She stood up from her seat, and curtsied to the large crowd that had been hanging on her every word. "I'm not sure what kinds of stories are being spread about me, but the one I just told was what really happened. I'm not a warrior, and I can't walk on water or perform miracles. I'm just an ordinary girl that gets into an extraordinary amount of trouble. If you still feel hostility towards me for any reason, I would greatly appreciate it if you just came out and said what the problem is. If there's anything that the Cat Kingdom's taught me, it's that communication is critical. Good night, everyone; it's past curfew."

"Aww," one of the younger girls said in disappointment, but the crowd began to slowly dissolve away from her table.

"Don't forget your promise," Haru reminded Lilie and Pique with a gentle smile.

"No way," Lilie replied as she and Pique shook their heads in unison, wearing identical grins.

Haru giggled a little, and tightened her hold on her schoolbag before leaving the cafeteria. The hallway was dark, with only a candle here and there to penetrate the darkness. She paused in front of her stairway to search her bag for the candle and lighter she had put in that morning.

"Haru-sama?" a timid voice asked from behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder to see a young girl, perhaps twelve years old. "Yes?"

The girl bit her lip while twirling a lock of blonde hair around her fingers nervously. "I… I'm glad you came to Kinkan Town. Ever since Neko-sensei heard you were coming, he stopped threatening us with marriage. He's a lot nicer than he used to be."

Haru cocked her head in disbelief. "Are you being serious?"

"Uh huh," the girl said while nodding. "He used to threaten marriage all the time."

"No, not that. You mean that the way he's acting right now is better than what it was before I came here?"

"_Much _better," the girl said, peaking at the taller girl from between her lashes. "The other students have noticed it, too."

Haru sighed tiredly. "If his behavior toward the other students is the only good that comes from his infatuation, I'll be satisfied." _'Never mind that it could mean the end of my sanity.'_

The girl smiled shyly. "Um… if it's not too much trouble… could you… show me how to back flip like you?"

She looked at the young girl, biting her lip a little. "What's your name?"

"Rosie. I'm Lilie's little sister."

At the words 'little sister', Haru's heartstrings snapped violently. She pressed one hand to her heart, and faked a smile for the young girl. "I think I'm going to be busy over the weekend, but how about you meet me in the practice room after classes on Monday? There's no guarantee that you'll be flexible enough, but it couldn't hurt to find out."

"Thank you, Haru-sama!" Rosie squealed with delight while bowing madly. "Good night!"

"Good night, Rosie," Haru laughed while lighting her candle. With a final nod, she began traveling up the staircase. For some reason, her heart felt so much lighter than it had a few hours ago.

Then again, perhaps she should have been expecting it. She had always loved helping other people out, _because _it eased her own pain. She frowned, trying to remember why she had been so sad in the first place.

Haru sighed, and turned the key to her room. As she stepped inside, the reason for her melancholy returned in full force.

A beautiful silver dress was draped over her red comforter, and delicate glass shoes were sitting right next to it, along with another note.

"Drat, I forgot to tell him to stop sneaking in here," she muttered furiously to herself before opening the note.

_Dearest Haru,_

_Please forgive me for my behavior this afternoon. I would never seek to cause you pain, and I was only trying to help._

"As well as break your cousin into pieces," she said sarcastically under her breath.

_Please allow me to make it up to you. I would be honored to spend all of tomorrow with you, to see the island's beauty and to talk of personal matters. I specifically wish to speak with you about your voice. It is truly the most exquisite thing I've heard in years, but I have a few ideas on how to polish your vocal talents._

_I would also be honored if you would wear this, along with the comb. Please be forgiving, for I will always be_

_Your obedient servant,_

_Reginald_

"How dare he!" Haru yelled, throwing the note far from her. "First he tells me I have to marry a cat, and then he starts telling me what to do and what to wear?!"

A polite tapping assaulted her window. She looked over at it accusingly, but relaxed at seeing Ahiru. "You wouldn't _believe _what my stalker's trying to do," she informed the bird while letting her into the room. She locked the window afterwards, although she was now aware that it was a useless gesture.

"Quack?" Ahiru asked with confusion.

"He wants me to wear _this_!" Haru held up the silver dress by the shoulders, a little taken aback by how little it weighed. "In _public_, no less! I don't know who he thinks I am, but he needs to take a trip to reality."

Ahiru waddled a little closer to the dress, and touched it with one wing. "Quack," she said sadly, her large sapphire eyes on the verge of tears.

"Oh, sweetie," Haru said impulsively, tossing the lacy dress to a nearby chair. She wrapped the small bird into her arms while sitting on the bed. "What's wrong? Can you make me understand?"

Ahiru shook her head, stifling back a sob. Haru crooned a little, rocking her in her arms like the duck was a baby.

"I can't wait until you're a human again," she informed her feathered friend with a sad smile. "I bet you'll have a lot to say."

Ahiru nodded, giving her a shy smile.

Haru kissed her head once, and pulled her fish necklace out from under her white shirt. "This pendant sort of acts like a phone, so don't think I'm crazy, okay?"

Ahiru nodded with a reassuring quack.

Haru smiled again, and leaned back in her large bed, one hand caressing the golden fish to activate the spell. Once her hand and throat were drenched in warmth, she knew that the link was active.

"Lune," she called softly, in case he was taking a nap. "Lune, can we talk?"

"_Always," _the young Cat King answered her with a light laugh. _"Just give me a moment, I'm in a meeting."_

"Call back when you're done," Haru told him, a smile playing upon her lips. She hummed mindlessly for a few minutes, using one hand to gently rub Ahiru's head.

"_Okay, I can talk now. Have you arrived at Kinkan Town?"_

"I got here two days ago. It's a bit different than I remember it."

"_That stands to reason, considering how long it's been for you. Have you found your sister yet?"_

"No, but I've come across a promising lead that I'm going to spend tomorrow following. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to call in that favor you owe me."

"_You know all you have to do is name it."_

"I'm pretty sure this isn't your field, but do you know of a way for a duck to permanently become a human?" She gave a small summary of Ahiru's past to explain her sudden interest.

Lune was silent for a moment after she finished. _"You're right, this is beyond me," _he admitted sheepishly.

"But I think Toto would be able to tell us, wouldn't you?" Haru asked with a small smile, still rubbing the duck's head.

"_I think he would. I'll bring up Ahiru's problem over tea tomorrow."_

Haru's heart gave a sudden pang. "How's Baron been?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Lune sighed. _"To be honest, I haven't been around him since last week's tea. I don't know; he seemed a little distracted then. I think he's worried about you."_

A goofy grin lit up her face, making the duck in her arms quack in confusion. Then Haru sighed. "I really wish he had come with me. He would be able to fit in around here."

"_What do you mean?"_

"I mean that all sorts of animals walk and talk like humans on the island, and everyone knows that I visited your kingdom last year, even if they don't have all the facts straight. I have an anteater and crocodile for classmates, and a giant flirtatious cat for a sensei."

"_Flirtatious?!"_

"Unfortunately," Haru replied glumly. "He and his cousin are both trying to woo me, but all they're doing is creeping me out. Speaking of which, is there some sort of spell that can guarantee that unwanted stalkers can't enter my room when I'm away?"

"_I'll get to work on one right away. Baron's going to be furious when he hears about this."_

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" she asked worriedly.

"_Of course I am! But large talking creatures are perfectly normal on the island?"_

"Yes. Paulamoni-sensei says it's because this place is soaked in magic. Is it important?"

"_It may prove to be. Don't worry, Haru; I'll get Baron and the other two on this as soon as possible."_

"You're the best, Lune," she said cheerfully.

"_But for the record, I'm not counting this as the favor I owe you."_

"Why not?"

"_Because you shouldn't be using __**your **__favor to help anyone but you. We can talk about it later, all right?"_

"All right," Haru said reluctantly. "Good night, Lune."

"_We don't have night here, remember? But sweet dreams anyway."_

"Sweet dreams," she replied, taking her hand off of her fish pendant. "It's taken care of, Ahiru. King Lune's going to tell the Cat Bureau about your problem tomorrow. Did you overhear me talking about the Bureau downstairs?"

Ahiru nodded enthusiastically.

"Then you know there's nothing left to worry about. Do you want me to let you out for the night?"

The yellow duck smiled shyly at her, and hopped off her chest in order to land on the red comforter. She padded the soft material with one wing, looking at Haru hopefully.

"You want to sleep over?"

Ahiru quacked affirmatively, looking a little embarrassed.

Haru stared at her a little incredulously. "No one's _ever _wanted to do that with me before."

At least another girl. The Bureau didn't really count, and neither did Paulo or Paulamoni.

The duck looked down in shame as a rosy blush covered her face.

"It's all right," Haru said quickly, bringing Ahiru into her arms for a gentle hug. "It just surprised me, that's all. Would you mind excusing me for a few minutes? I better shower before bed."

Ahiru looked around the room nervously. "Quack?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"You're right," Haru agreed impulsively, taking her into the bathroom with her. "When a cat can get in whenever he feels like it, it would just be stupid to leave a duck unprotected." _'Plus I think I've filled my 'dumb' quota for today.'_


	16. Honesty

**Chapter Sixteen: Honesty**

_She was crying again. Sometimes, it felt like she had spent her whole life weeping. _

_There was nothing left. That selfish __**monster**__ had stolen her most precious possessions, leaving her with nothing. Even her mother was gone, after her heart finally gave out on her._

_Deep down, she just wished that her own heart would do the same and be done with it. It had been four __**long **__years, and the pain was still as fresh as if the terrible events had happened the day before._

_Her door opened. She stifled another sob and looked up from her pillow._

_It was her father. He sighed once again as he looked at her for the first time since the terrible incident. He had avoided her like the plague until now, making her wonder what was important enough to come to her now, even if it __**was **__her birthday. _

"_Cease thy grief, daughter. Though it hath taken longer than I wished, a husband has been found for thee."_

_She stared at him, shocked beyond words. "Truly? But was it not intended for me to stay in maidenhood till long after my hair turned white with age?"_

"_Yes, yes," he said with irritation, waving a pair of ladies-in-waiting into the room. "But with thee as my only remaining descendant, there is no peaceful alternative. I have spoken with thine intended at some length. He will be a good king after my death, so do thy duty to me and obey my will."_

_Her mother's wedding gown was being carefully brought in between the two ladies-in-waiting. Her eyes began to tear up again, remembering the vicious fights over who would be the first sister to wear it._

_If only she had realized where it would all lead…_

"_You will marry at sunset, so make ready," her father said emotionlessly, already walking out of her personal chambers._

"_Whom is my intended?" she called after him, but no answer was given._

_As always. _

"_Why dost thou persist in inquiring things of __**him**__?" one of the ladies-in-waiting asked with a tired sigh._

_She gave a sad sigh of her own. "If I but knew."_

Haru's eyes slowly came open, curled up underneath her red comforter. "Okay, _that _was a weird dream," she muttered before remembering that she wasn't alone. She slapped one hand to her mouth, and looked down to where Ahiru was cuddling against her chest.

The duck appeared to be sleeping peacefully, so Haru worked her arms loose, and gently kissed her forehead before slipping on a long pale blue sundress she had sewn last year, hoping that it was nice enough for meeting the prince and princess. It was a weekend, but she had forgotten to do her homework the night before. She blamed this on retelling her Cat Kingdom adventure at dinner. Since she didn't have an early class today, she decided to finish up her homework. The few hours before meeting Lilie and Pique for breakfast should give her all the time she needed.

As she answered questions and wrote a small essay, her large brown eyes strayed to the note Reginald had left her the night before, lying on the ground next to the silvery bit of nothing he expected her to dress in.

She glowered angrily at the outfit. Yes, it was beautiful, but definitely not her style. More to the point, it was something she would _never _wear on a date with a guy that she barely remembered. _'And if Baron ever caught me in an outfit like that, he'd throw his jacket over me or firmly ask for me to change clothes. Well, __**if **__his jacket were big enough to cover me.'_

Her heart gave a familiar pang of regret. She sighed, and returned to her homework. _'Sure hope he decides to come here to solve Ahiru's problem-"_

Her thought was cut off by what could only be called a scream. Haru jumped out of her chair with a hiss, sharply looking at her bed.

Ahiru had awakened, and her expression full of horror.

"What is it?!" Haru asked her in a panic, a single leap placing her directly next to the bed. She swept the bird into her arms and held her tight. "Was it a nightmare, Ahiru?"

The duck nodded, her quacks filled with sobs.

Haru crooned softly, rocking the bird like a baby. "I can sympathize, little one. I've been having nightmares for weeks. I wish I could understand you," she added wistfully.

Ahiru looked up at her, a spark of determination in her sapphire gaze. She took in a deep shaky breath, and started quacking slowly, patting her wings against the human's slender arms.

"You're trying to tell me about the dream?" Haru guessed.

Ahiru nodded, and pointed one wing at her. She quacked again, her expression one of horror.

"It was about me?"

Ahiru nodded again, another sob working its way past her orange beak.

Haru nibbled her lower lip in thought. "You're worried that something terrible is going to happen to me?"

Her feathered friend nodded again, and wrapped her meager wingspan around Haru's front.

She sighed while returning the duck's embrace. "That's the story of my life, Ahiru. I'm a magnet for trouble, especially on…" Her voice trailed off in horror. She stood up from her bed in order to fish around her bag. Pulling out her planner, she quickly looked up the date; keeping the duck wrapped in her other arm.

"Oh no," Haru whispered as her heart gained a coat of ice. "It's coming up again."

"Quack?" Ahiru asked in a panicked voice.

The slim brunette sighed tiredly. "There's a certain day of the year that has always brought me grief. I can usually handle what other times bring me, but that particular day always leaves me in tears."

Ahiru looked confused, and quacked again while tapping one of her hands insistently.

"Well, it's the day my sister was kidnapped, for example. It was the day my father issued The Challenge, and when I'd suffer my worst injuries. It was the day he died, too. Last year wasn't so bad, though," Haru had to admit with a light giggle. "I got out of the Cat Kingdom as a single human girl, and even met Baron. I still cried, but at least Baron was there to make me feel better." She bit one thumbnail grimly. "All those bad things are the reason I can't take pleasure in my birthday. No one's ever in a partying mood when the day's marked by sorrow."

Ahiru stared at her in open-mouthed horror.

Haru gave her a hopeful smile, and kissed her forehead gently. "Who knows, Ahiru? Maybe this birthday, I'll have a reason to celebrate." She glanced at the clock, and grinned wickedly at her companion. "Want to help me write my stalker a reprimand before breakfast?"

Ahiru quacked while nodding her head.

Haru sat down at her desk again, and set her companion on it in order to pull out a quill and paper.

"_Dear…_" Haru started to say while writing, but then stopped. That address looked a little too intimate for what she was about to say. She crinkled the paper up, stuffed it into a convenient wastebasket, and tried again with another sheet.

"_Reginald; I'm afraid that I must decline from your invitation, for I have already promised to spend the weekend with some new friends that you probably already know about._

"_I am not certain how things are done on the island, but in Tokyo, it's considered very improper for a young woman to walk around in public while wearing a nightgown, even or especially if a suitor would enjoy it._"

Ahiru started laughing, her quacks just a little ominous.

"_For that reason, I would be thrilled if you would take it back, along with your other gifts. There is something that I probably should have told you yesterday, but your little revelation concerning my personal life was just a bit distracting. You see, Reginald, I've already given my heart to a wonderful gentleman I met back in Japan._"

"Quack?" Ahiru asked in a hushed voice.

Haru's heart gave a warm glow as she thought about Baron's smile."_I have no regrets about doing it, and I never will. __**He **__is the only one for me, and if loving him means that I'll never have a husband or children, then so be it. And even if I had never met him, I would not be inclined to think so of you. As I told your cousin, I do not appreciate being spied on, or for unauthorized felines to waltz into my room whenever they feel like it. _

"_You say you are my obedient servant? Then please forget about me in that sense, and find another to give your gifts to. The most you or any other cat will get out of me is the gentle affection of a friend. Sincerely, Haru. _

"_P.S. Please stop sneaking into my room; it's creepy. _Well, what do you think, little one? Will this get my point across?"

Ahiru held one wing to her beak in thought, and waved the other in an uncertain gesture.

"Well, all we can do is try," Haru sighed as she neatly folded the gown, and set the other gifts on the bed with it and her note. "Come on, breakfast is waiting."

ooOoo

Lilie and Pique were waiting for her by the time she entered the cafeteria with Ahiru on her shoulder. She waved at them before grabbing a plate's worth of waffles drenched in strawberry syrup, as well as a large glass of milk from the long line of hungry girls.

"Hey, isn't that Sir Fakir's pet?" Pique asked Haru as she sat down with them.

"I wouldn't call her a pet, per se," the brunette answered with a gentle smile. She cut her waffles into neat segments, setting a portion aside for Ahiru to eat. "Good companion would probably be a little closer. Now then, I believe you two promised me something."

Lilie nodded, sending her blonde pigtails bouncing over her shoulders. "What do you want to know about Ahiru?"

The yellow duck stiffened as Haru smiled warmly.

"Let's start with everything and go from there."

Pique sighed. "Well, we were her best friends about five years ago, before the Raven was destroyed. She was a sweetheart, but a little unfaithful in love."

"How so?"

"Well, she had a _huge _crush on the prince when she first came here, and before we knew he was the prince. But after some time, she started behaving very strangely around Fakir."

"Those two absolutely _hated _each other for the first few months," Lilie giggled. "Fakir was a perfect student and dancer, and Ahiru was just the opposite. It was all she could do to keep from being held back into apprentice class. It was so adorable, how she'd keep bouncing back and forth like that!"

"She was so bad at ballet, Neko-sensei thought she was doing it on purpose so that she could marry him. I tell you, there were times when she was just a split hair away from the altar," Pique confided with a laugh of her own.

The yellow duck lowered her head to the plate, her eyes tearing up with pain.

Haru's eyes narrowed in anger at the sensei's actions. "Was she any better at regular schoolwork?" she asked, hoping to retain some of Ahiru's dignity, nibbling at her breakfast.

Lilie laughed after swallowing a bite of waffle. "Not a chance. Like I said before, she was a terrible student, more of a comic relief than anything else."

"But she had a good heart," Pique said softly, her eyes fading a little from memories. "She could reach out to those who had no one, and somehow change them into better people. Before she came to the Academy, Princess Rue didn't really smile, unless she was around Mytho. That's one of the prince's names," she quickly explained. She had no way of knowing that Haru already knew that the prince had more than one name. "Sir Fakir was the same way, and even Mytho started gaining a personality after she came along. I still don't know how she did it, but Ahiru had this… this…" She struggled to find the right word.

"Aura?" Haru asked.

"Yeah, an aura that just reaches out to people. Well, Lilie and I knew from the beginning that she wouldn't be able to compete with Rue for the prince, but she and Fakir made the cutest couple you've ever seen. She was even starting to dance all right, before she disappeared."

"Sir Fakir refuses to say anything about her, though. How did _you _get him to talk about her?" Lilie asked curiously.

"Because Ahiru has a problem that he thought I could help her out with," Haru answered easily while eating her waffles, making sure to leave enough segments for the duck sitting next to her on the table.

"What is it? Is she okay?" Pique asked excitedly.

"She's all right, but I promised to keep her problem confidential." That wasn't a _complete _lie, since Haru was certain that Fakir didn't want people to know Ahiru was stuck in a duck's body. "She sends her love, though," she added, keeping an eye on the bird.

Ahiru gave her a grateful look, and even a tiny smile.

"You've seen her?" Lilie asked in a hushed tone.

"In a manner of speaking. I didn't see what she looked like, though. Could you please describe her appearance for me?"

Pique was looking at her a little suspiciously, but relented. "Well, five years ago, she was about this tall," she raised one hand to a slightly short level, "Big blue eyes, kind of fair skin-"

"Don't forget her hair," Lilie giggled. "She had this super-long hair that fell all the way to her knees, but it was also really fine, so that she could fix it into a small bun for class."

"What color was it? Blonde?" Haru asked before taking a big sip of milk. _'It wouldn't surprise me, with her feathers.'_

"Nah, it was pink."

The milk in Haru's throat instantly went down the wrong tube, which made breathing a bit of a problem. She grabbed a handful of napkins as she fell off the chair, holding them to her mouth as she coughed violently.

"Quack!" Ahiru yelled in a panic, hopping off the table to land on Haru's shoulder, hitting her back as hard as she could with her wings.

"Haru-sama?!" Lilie asked, also jumping to her feet. But by the time she kneeled next to Haru, the brunette was getting over her coughing fit.

She grabbed Lilie by her arms almost fiercely, a look of horror in her large brown eyes. "_Pink_ hair?! Are you sure?!"

"Well, it was more of a really light red," Pique answered nervously, also kneeling over the brunette as a few other students walked over to see what was wrong.

Haru's heartbeat began to increase to a dangerous level. "Did she also have one lock of hair that shot out almost from her forehead like this?" She drew a large crescent shape in the air with one finger while staring at Ahiru.

Who did indeed have one feather that curled from her head like a crescent war banner.

"Yeah, she did," Pique said slowly.

"And were her bangs only slightly less wild than the big lock?"

"So you _have _met her!" Lilie said with delight.

"Once," Haru whispered, her vision beginning to swim with tears. "A _very_ long time ago."

"Quack?!" Ahiru asked incredulously, but the brunette wouldn't answer her.

Haru quickly stood up, sweeping the duck on her shoulder into her arms. "She'd be about sixteen right now, wouldn't she?" she asked excitedly.

"Sixteen or seventeen; Ahiru never told us when her birthday was. Is something wrong, Haru?" Pique asked, her eyes filling with concern.

Haru beamed at her as she back-stepped from the group at a growing pace. "No. Thanks to you two, something's now very right! Thank you so much for telling me about Ahiru. You have no idea just how much I owe you now." She bowed once to the two slightly younger girls, and ran out the door with the tiny duck still in her arms.

Ahiru kept quacking at her as Haru ran into the woods, but the human girl didn't care. For the first time in weeks, her heart felt as light as a feather.

"Ahiru," she panted, finally sitting next to a tree. "Was everything Pique and Lilie said true about you?"

The little duck looked a little nervous, but she nodded.

A steady stream of tears began to flow from Haru's eyes and down her face. She pressed the bird against her heart for a slightly fierce embrace. "I _found_ you," she whispered happily. "No wonder Dad never could."

"Quack?!" Ahiru asked her, her expression slightly panicked.

"Oh, right. I should explain myself," Haru giggled, taking Ahiru between her hands so that they could be at eye level.

"You're not a duck, Ahiru. You're really a human."

The little bird gaped at her in shock.

"I know it's true, because I was there when you were born. _You're my little sister_!"


	17. Astonishment

**Chapter Seventeen: Astonishment**

"WHAT?!" Fakir screamed from directly behind the tree.

Haru literally meowed in surprise, hopping out of her resting place in order to jump into the tree she was leaning against. "Dang it, Fakir! Do you _have _to keep sneaking up on me?!" she yelled at the knight, gently cradling a shell-shocked Ahiru in one arm.

Fakir waved the question aside impatiently as he walked around the tree. "Haru, I think you have the wrong girl."

"Well I don't," Haru replied stubbornly. She hopped down from the thick branch carefully, still cradling Ahiru in one arm. "Even if I didn't remember what my little sister looked like after she was cleaned up, I had nightmares about the day for a solid week and a half before I came here. How many girls are running around the island with slightly crazy pink hair _and the ba-doinger_?" she asked, brushing a single finger against Ahiru's stray feather that nearly shot off of her forehead.

The feather in question bounced back to its original position after her finger released it.

"She's the right age and everything, Fakir. She even has my father's eyes." _'I just didn't notice before because Dad never looked at me with emotion, and she does.' _"Even her quack sounds similar to how she cried when she was born. I'm willing to bet my life that she's my little sister."

Fakir stared at Ahiru, his expression clearly troubled. "Haru," he said slowly. "Did you have… _just _the younger sister?"

Haru's heart froze again. "Why? Do you know of someone else?"

Fakir nibbled his lower lip nervously. "Maybe…"

She grabbed a large fistful of his black shirt and dragged him closer. "**Age**?" she hissed.

"Eighteen or nineteen. She doesn't know her birthday," he answered promptly.

"Appearance?"

"About your height and build, crimson eyes, and really thick curly black hair." Fakir laughed softly. "That's what gave it away for her. Almost all the information on your family's been destroyed for some reason or other, but then someone mentioned how your father kept looking for the Monster Raven to get his daughter back. After we got someone to describe him, most specifically his hair, she _knew _that he was her father too. We only recently found out about you."

Haru released him numbly. "One of my grandmothers had crimson eyes," she whispered, still cradling Ahiru in one arm.

Fakir watched her nervously, just waiting for her to get angry for keeping this from her until now.

But instead, she started giggling weakly. "I should have known that _Mom_ was the one in the right. She was right about everything else."

"Pardon?" the knight asked her in a low voice.

Haru gave him a weak smile. "One of the things my parents fought the worst on was how many daughters they had. Dad said there were only two, and Mom insisted there were three of us." She gave a tired sigh. "It's the princess, isn't it? Rue?"

Fakir nodded, still staring at her. _'How could her parents argue over something like that?!' _"She wanted to see the look on your face when you realized it. She's probably going to be cross with me, now." He shook his head, and also started laughing; almost hysterically. "Rue and Ahiru are _sisters_?! Do you have any idea how much this explains their behavior towards each other?!"

"How they fought over Mytho, you mean?" Haru asked, her heart beginning to slowly pound again.

"_Yes_!" He was forced to brace himself against a tree, he was laughing so hard. "Sibling rivalry! Of all the obvious answers!"

The slim brunette took a deep breath, and grabbed one of his shoulders. "Fakir, if you don't take me to Rue immediately, _I'll _be the one cross with you. Remember, you're right here where I can hurt you."

"Got it," he gasped, looking up at her with a wild smile, his eyes still streaming tears. "Will this change anything? That Ahiru's really a human?"

"It might, but I'll inform Lune on the good news _after _you introduce me to my big sister. _Now_."

He nodded happily, and turned to lead her to his horse.

Just as they left sight of the dormitories, a loud banshee wail pierced the air, sending terrified birds into the air in a tweeting flurry.

"What's that?!" Fakir asked, turning around in mid-step while drawing his sword.

Haru looked up at her tower room, and laughed. "That's just my stalker. I'm betting that he found the note I left for him. Come on, Fakir; take me to Rue already!"

The knight still looked a little wary, but did as he was told. He un-tethered his brown horse, helped Haru onto its back before climbing on himself, and set off for the castle.

Haru had to keep both of her legs on one side, thanks to the sundress, and her grip was a little unsteady since she was still cradling Ahiru in one arm. But she didn't care about having only one arm to hold onto Fakir with. She was too happy. _'I'm nearly there, Mom! My promise will be fulfilled today!'_

ooOoo

The large silver gates opened immediately as Fakir rode up to it, thankfully fast enough so that he could keep riding through. The castle was even more beautiful at this close range, but Haru was too distracted to appreciate it at the moment.

Still keeping Ahiru in one arm, Haru hopped off the horse as Fakir did the same. He grabbed one of her hands, and would have started dragging her into the castle if she weren't running as fast as him.

The corridors and stairways melted into each other in Haru's uncaring vision. It didn't matter to her that the castle's beauty rivaled that of the Cat Kingdom's; all she wanted was to meet the sister she had never been sure existed.

Finally, Fakir came to a pair of double doors, white and trimmed with gold. He banged on it loudly, like it was merely a door to an inn. "Rue! Mytho! She's _here_!"

"Then why are you bothering with the door?!" a low feminine voice demanded of him.

Fakir gave Haru another grin, took Ahiru from her, and opened the door wide.

She hesitated a second as her breakfast churned uncertainly in her stomach. For a split second, she thought she was going to throw up, but she pushed the feeling aside firmly, and stepped through the door.

There was a young man in the room, but it was the young woman that captured her attention.

Her older sister looked so much like her father that she felt a small pang of fear. But that feeling melted away as she got a good look at her long-lost sister's crimson eyes.

Haru _knew_ that look of pain and longing. She had worn it herself for years, knowing without words just what the princess was afraid of.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked at her big sister for the first time. She smiled lovingly, and held her arms wide for a hug. "If you had just said from the beginning that you were my sister, I'd have _swum_ here," she said softly, walking closer to the princess.

Rue gave a happy cry, and threw herself at the brunette. Her full red skirt fell in folds over Haru's more modest blue as she quickly wrapped her arms around the sister she had never known.

They clung to each other lovingly, their tears freely intermingling.

"We never forgot about you, you know," Haru whispered, after a few minutes of fierce hugging. She stroked Rue's thick black locks like her mother was fond of doing with her. "Mom's last words were for you and Ahiru."

Rue gave another sob, looking at her happily. "I've been wondering whether you forgot or not. Wait, why would Mother care about Ahiru?"

"Funny thing about that," Fakir drawled with a smirk, stepping closer to the two, the yellow bird perched on his shoulder. "According to Haru, Ahiru's your little sister, too."

"What?!" Rue demanded in shock, quickly looking at the brunette for confirmation.

Haru nodded. "I remember when she was taken, and what she looked like. Look at it this way, Big Sis; you get _two_ little sisters for the price of one!"

A small smile worked its way onto Rue's pale lips, just before a light giggle escaped her throat. "I guess you're right… Little Sis. Get over here, you," she said in mock anger, holding out one arm for Ahiru, who eagerly flew from Fakir to land on her arm. "This _does_ explain a few things," she muttered before bringing the duck into the hug.

"_This is my last hope, Haru; that all my girls will be together one day. Please make it soon for me."_

Thus was a mother's dying wish fulfilled. The three sisters were together at last, although their embrace was a little on the careful side, since Rue and Haru didn't want to crush Ahiru.

"Perhaps it would be best to leave you three alone for the rest of the day," a gentle voice said softly.

Haru looked over at the one speaking curiously.

It was fairly obvious that he was the prince, even if she weren't familiar with that royal bearing. His golden eyes were on her, studying her as a slight twinge of fear became apparent as he ran one hand through his white hair nervously.

A sudden rush of heat flooded through Haru's body, a feeling she could only remember when someone had seriously offended her. Her eyes narrowed in slight hostility as Rue turned in her embrace to look at the prince lovingly.

"Thank you, dear. There's a lot for us to catch up on."

"Then we will leave you," he said quickly, bowing slightly before quickly walking out the door with Fakir just behind him.

Just before the knight followed the prince out the door, he gave Haru a strange look, one that almost seemed to scream, _"What is your problem?!"_

She immediately felt ashamed of herself. After all, it was thanks to the prince that she had managed to come to the island so quickly, and be reunited with her sisters in record time. She should be on her knees thanking him, not about to rip his head off with her bare hands.

But why had she felt that way so _strongly_? She only hated people that did dumb things to innocent people, not royal strangers that did her huge favors.

Thankfully, Rue didn't notice. "I want to know everything about you," she said while leading her to the bed so that they could sit down.

"No way, you first," Haru retorted with a wicked grin. "Where have you been, all these years? Why were you the Raven's _champion_, of all things?"

A flash of intense pain overrode Rue's smile. She looked down in shame. "I don't want to talk about it," she said softly.

Haru smiled sadly. _'We even use the same language.' _"Rue, I _did _come all the way from Tokyo for answers, and I intend to get them. Just tell me what happened; I promise not to make judgments."

Rue looked up at her, actually scared. "You promise?"

Haru smiled, and made a cross over her heart with one finger. "Getting into trouble's a family tradition, Rue. I can take whatever it is **he **did to you." She reached out, and held her sister's hand comfortingly.

Rue gave her a grateful look, and took a deep breath. "He… he told me _he _was my father."

Haru's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you believed him?"

"Yes. I didn't find out the truth until after I-" she started gagging, another look of pain crossing her features.

"Until after Mytho was poisoned?" Haru asked helpfully, wrapping her older sister into a tender embrace.

Rue nodded, and kept talking. "He said I was reborn as a human to be Mytho's princess, and that he and the prince would be the only ones to ever love me. But he didn't," she sobbed, burying her face in her little sister's lap like a small child. "He… would say terrible things to me, just to hurt me, keep me in line. I did everything to please him, but he just wouldn't be pleased!"

'_Yep, we definitely use the same language,' _Haru thought to herself while sighing sadly. "If **he** weren't already dead, I'd kill him myself."

A giggle escaped between Rue's sobs, but she wasn't ready to face her little sister yet, burying her face in Haru's lap. "I did terrible things. I seduced boys to give their hearts to _him_, although Tutu was able to stop me, and I put Mytho through so much pain. I still don't understand why he loves me so much."

Haru bit her lip, fighting back tears with little success as Ahiru comfortingly patted Rue's head. She stroked her sister's thick black locks, and listened attentively to everything she had to say. Which was a lot.

After Rue ran out of bad things to say for herself, Haru kissed her hair gently, like she was really her mother.

"It's not your fault, Rue. You thought you were doing the right thing, and you were being manipulated by more than the Raven. I'd really like to sink a fist into Drosselmeyer's face right now."

Rue giggled, finally sitting up next to her sister so that Ahiru could sit on her lap. "Too bad you can't. After the Raven was defeated, Drosselmeyer's spirit fled from the island. His story is finished, so he can't ever come back."

"That's something, at least," Haru giggled before her eyes strayed to the grandfather clock next to her sister's wardrobe. Her jaw dropped at the hour. "Its noon already?" she whispered in disbelief.

Rue looked over at the clock, her expression mirroring her little sister's. "My, the morning's _never _flown by like that! I'll call for someone to bring us some lunch." She reached over and grabbed a thick cream rope hanging from the ceiling. A good hard yank sent a servant running in, slightly out of breath. Rue requested that a luncheon be brought up for her and her sister, since they were obviously keeping Ahiru's condition a secret. Her request nearly sent the poor servant into a heart attack from shock.

After he regained control, he left the room as well.

"Rue, Ahiru, I'm going to need to contact Lune again," Haru said suddenly, making the princess look at her curiously.

"Who's Lune?"

"The new Cat King. He's informing the Cat Bureau about Ahiru's problem, but they'll probably need to know that she's originally a human. Plus he asked me to let him know if I ever found you," she said with a teasing smile.

"Cat Bureau?" Rue asked, making Ahiru hold one wing to her forehead and sigh tiredly.

"I'll tell you about it after I talk to Lune," Haru promised, fishing the gold pendant from the front of her dress. She held the charm firmly in one hand, and felt the magic enter her hand and voice again. _'I might as well get my scolding out of the way while I'm at it. He'll be furious about me keeping __**two **__sisters a secret from him.' _"Lune? Lune, are you at the Refuge?"

ooOoo

"What was _that _about?" Fakir asked Mytho after they had left the castle to wander the flower gardens.

"Which that?" the prince asked distractedly while throwing a pebble into a small pond.

"I saw how Haru looked at you. And I saw how you were looking at her, long before she noticed you were around." Fakir shook his head angrily. "Honestly, Mytho. You shouldn't stare at Haru like she's about to bite your head off. She just might decide to do it."

Mytho humphed softly, his golden eyes still very distant. He sat down on a stone bench, and looked up at his knight. "Fakir, do you remember when I told you I was scared of Princess Tutu?"

"How could I forget?" he laughed grimly, sitting next to his best friend.

Mytho bit his lip, and quickly looked back at the small pond next to him. "I fear _her _even more."

"Who?"

"Haru. I don't know why, but she fills me with absolute terror."

"That's just ridiculous. I've been observing her ever since she came to the island, and I can tell you she's completely harmless, unless you're foolish enough to get her angry."

Mytho clenched his fists tightly. "If it weren't for Rue and Ahiru, I never would have consented to allow her back on the island."

"If it weren't for Rue and Ahiru, I doubt she would have wanted anything to do with the island, anyway." Fakir sighed. "If it will make you feel better, I'll have a talk with her. I'll make sure she understands that you're not the enemy."

"Please do so shortly. If she glares at me like that again, I don't know if I'll be able to take it," Mytho said softly, one hand trembling slightly with fear.

"Haru's harmless," Fakir insisted, but nothing he could say could soften the prince's horror of the slim brunette.


	18. Pining

**Chapter Eighteen: Pining**

Baron thought nothing could seem longer than the day after Haru left. That is, until he endured the second day, and then the third. The weekly tea came and went, but since his brunette wasn't at it, he couldn't have cared less what was discussed with the young Cat King and his pale queen.

'_Why am I thinking of her as __**my **__brunette? She was never mine.' _He tried to force his mind to recite what he knew things had to be like, but that didn't ease his longing for Haru. _'I wish she could have been, though. I hate myself for hurting her like that.'_

Even Toto and Muta seemed to be fighting less, but that could have been because Baron wasn't paying as much attention to them anymore. He tried staying in his wooden form for longer than he needed to, but that only gave him dreams that starred Haru without fail.

ooOoo

_Baron stealthily followed his prey as she easily maneuvered around people and buildings until reaching the one she wanted. _

_She was so __**beautiful**__, as she reached up with a finger to tuck a short lock of hair behind her ear. There was a gentle smile on her face as she entered the building; a gym, if he was not mistaken._

_Knowing that there was no way for him to be able to sneak in after her without more humans finding out about him, he waited five minutes before carefully looking through each and every window. _

_It had only been a few days since the Cat King tried to force her to marry him or his son. The old monarch had thankfully suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after Baron defeated him, but the Cat Creation couldn't stop himself from making sure that Haru was safe and sound._

_When he finally found her through one of the windows, his mouth dropped open in shock. His cheeks burned hotly underneath his fur as he stared at the slim brunette._

_He had always been able to tell when someone lied around him, so he had known that Haru wasn't a 'meowsy' dancer, even before he led her out of her chair in that faraway banquet hall._

_But the last thing he was expecting was to catch her in were tights and an incredibly short green skirt._

_Haru had a small mechanical device plugged into both of her ears, and her eyes were closed as she performed the last of her body stretches, so she was oblivious to Baron's presence. _

_And as soon as she was done stretching, she started dancing ballet. Some of her movements were a little slow and clumsy, like she had been neglecting her studies, but Baron knew a professional when he saw one._

_He sat down on the open windowsill, and watched her. He was just a tad scandalized at how long and lovely Haru's legs were, but there was a small selfish corner of his soul that delighted in her attire._

"_Stop that," he muttered to himself as she began dancing on her toes with difficulty, and then with slow ease. Thinking that way about Miss Haru simply wouldn't do. She deserved better than that._

_But there were bound to be men around this place that __**wouldn't **__restrain themselves from such thoughts. Although she was all alone in this room of the building, she was in serious danger from any man that chose to do something about her incredibly flattering attire._

_Baron's blood boiled as he thought about a disgusting mortal touching the angel in front of him. 'I'll have to stay and guard her. She must not come to harm, no matter the cost.'_

_He couldn't help it if he would enjoy the show in the process, as Haru pulled a distinctly feline back flip._

ooOoo

There were also the dreams about the first time she returned to the Refuge, with a bag's worth of presents for the Bureau. Toto had received a large can's worth of mulberries, and she had bought a large angel food cake for Muta, since she apparently couldn't make anything more than tea and salad. He gripped the cane that she had given him possessively, like there was someone around foolish enough to try to take it from him.

While she was handing out the gifts, Lune and Yuki had stopped by, hoping for some advice on handling a rebellion, and the first tea party commenced. It became a weekly tradition that Baron looked forward to, despite the fact that he spent almost all of the rest of the week guarding Haru.

He was grateful that no man ever tried to hurt Haru, or even truly noticed that she was an attractive young lady, but he wasn't about to let go of his only excuse to be close to her.

'_I've seen so many sunsets in my life, I should know everything there is worth knowing,' _he mentally told Haru, wishing he was brave enough to actually tell her how he felt. _'But since I saw your face, I don't know where I am. There's no map that can show me where I'm going. The longer I live, the more I wonder if I know anything at all.' _

Baron smiled wryly._ 'If I've ever been in love, I can't recall. The longer I live, the less I'm certain that I have all the answers right. I'd give all my yesterdays for __**one**__ more night.' _

"It's hard to make each moment count when you're alone_,_" he admitted to himself aloud, thinking about all the empty years he had endured before meeting her._ 'Maybe that's all I need to know. The longer I live without you near me, the longer, the emptier it will be. The world will not turn until, you turn to me.' _

"**My** world will not turn, until you turn to me," he whispered, staring blankly out one of the front windows of his house.

ooOoo

"Baron, did you hear that?" Muta suddenly asked out of the blue, slapping the Creation across the back excitedly.

Baron suddenly sat up straight, his green eyes flashing with annoyance. "I suppose I didn't. What was it again?"

Lune was grinning at him from across the delicate white table just behind the Refuge, the traditional place to hold the weekly tea, since Haru could sit comfortably without banging her head on anything.

Back when she was around to come to the tea, in any case. Yuki was also absent this week, since her morning sickness was growing more violent. Lune would have also neglected today's tea, if he weren't so eager to pass on the information Haru had given him.

"Like I was saying, Baron; Haru contacted me yesterday," he repeated before sipping his milk.

"She did? What did she say?" Baron asked eagerly, snapping out of his depression like a whip.

"A lot of things, but one of the more important ones is that she's made a friend with a serious problem. Haru can't do anything about it, so she recommended your services." Quickly, the young Cat King outlined a certain duck's rather unique problem.

"Toto? This sounds like your field," Baron commented to the large crow.

The black bird cocked his head to the side in thought. "There _are _a couple spells and charms that can work for this Ahiru, but if she were to lose them, she would return to her original form. Plus the Bird King is a very selfish old scoundrel; I doubt he'll actually give any of the secrets up."

"There must be _something _we can do," Baron insisted, not wishing to disappoint Haru. "Perhaps if we went to Kinkan Town, Toto would be able to get a more accurate idea of what Miss Ahiru needs."

"_I _think you just want an excuse to go see Haru," Muta smirked, taking another large bite of angel food cake.

Baron tried to think of a way to counter that remark, but no words came to him. Yes, he wanted an excuse, any excuse, to see his brunette again. _'When am I going to learn she isn't __**my **__brunette?!'_

Lune smiled warmly at him. "I don't think she'd protest against that, Baron. She flat out told me that she wishes you had come with her."

"She did?" Baron asked numbly, although he knew he shouldn't be surprised.

Lune nodded, his expression turning dark. "Apparently talking animals are common over there, _and _they somehow found out about her little adventure to my kingdom last year. She's beating away _two _cats that are trying to woo her, and one of them is her sensei."

"_What_?!" Baron whispered in horror, remembering how fetching Haru looked in a ballet outfit.

"I didn't get all the details, but she asked me for a charm to keep unwanted felines out of her room when she's out of it. She sounded very irritated about the whole business."

"That does it; we're going to Kinkan Town!" Baron announced, jumping up from his place at the table. White-hot rage flowed thickly through his veins, thinking about Haru being all alone with some smitten cats.

There was no way on earth that he would be able to stand for _that_!

"Hold it a second, Baron," Lune laughed at him while pulling out a small bag. "Can you take the protective charm with you? Haru _did _ask for it, after all. If she hangs this on one of her walls, no one will be able to enter without her permission."

Baron stopped in mid-step. "Oh, of course," he said a little sheepishly, turning around in order to accept the small sack.

But the young king didn't hand over the bag yet. Grinning evilly, he fished around the bag, and pulled out a perfectly circular golden amulet, dangling from a fine chain.

"Do you know what this is, Baron?" Lune asked with a smirk.

The Cat Creation shook his head.

"It's a charm that can alter your size. If you press it hard with your thumb, you'll change to a human height. Press it twice, and you'll return to your original size."

Baron's heart seemed to stop beating.

"Haru _specifically_ said that giant talking animals are considered normal in Kinkan Town," the young king drawled, holding the amulet at strange angles so that he could watch Baron follow it with his eyes. "With this thing, hardly anyone would give you a second glance. Except for Haru, of course; and her unwanted suitors."

Baron said nothing, a timid hope beginning to grow in his chest.

"I'll let you have the amulet, _if_," he stressed, holding the amulet from the Cat Creation at arm's length when he made a sudden grab for it, "you promise to tell Haru the truth about your feelings before leaving her again."

Baron froze in his strange position, one hand still outstretched to the amulet. _'Leave? Why would I want to leave her again?'_

"Come on, Baron! I think Haru deserves to…" Lune trailed off, his mismatched eyes fading slightly. He set the amulet on the table, and turned his attention to the purple gem that served him for a crown.

Baron went ahead and snatched the amulet while the young king was distracted. He snapped the fine chain around his neck before anyone could stop him, without thinking twice about it. The amulet came to rest just underneath his bowtie, strangely accenting his attire.

"Yes, Haru; actually I _am _at the Refuge," Lune seemed to say to the air, grinning at a frozen Baron. "I told them about Ahiru's problem and… how so?"

Baron could never mistake the look that slowly passed over his royal friend's face. His jaw dropped, and his mismatched eyes of fire and ice widened until they were nearly as big as his father's used to be.

"What is it, Lune?" Baron asked anxiously, Toto also leaning in with concern.

Muta was unfazed. There was still cake to be eaten.

"_SISTERS_?!" Lune yelled at the top of his lungs, taking the gem from his forehead in order to shake it like it was really Haru. "You said you only had one!"

"What?!" Baron yelled, making a grab for the gem as Muta choked on his mouthful of cake.

"Sisters?!" Toto cawed in disbelief.

Lune held his crown gem from the Cat Creation, and even had to start running around the table in order to keep it from Baron, who was in mad pursuit. Muta immediately began laughing his head off… until they accidentally spilled his cake over the ground. He started chasing after Baron, yelling angrily at the top of his lungs.

Toto shook his head gravely at the three cats running around the back yard, and then started laughing.

"Why didn't you say you had more than one before?! How many-stop grabbing it, Baron!" Lune yelled over his shoulder.

"I want to talk to her!" the Cat Creation nearly commanded.

"The crown won't work for you! Haru, you stop laughing right now and tell me how many sisters you have! Only two?! Any brothers you'd like to tell me about?!" Lune stopped cold in his tracks, and got knocked off-balance as Baron sharply bumped into him.

They were both knocked off their feet as Muta fell over both of them, and quickly rolled off so that he didn't kill either of them.

"Are you serious?" Lune gasped, his anger melting into skepticism.

"What is it?" Baron asked urgently.

Lune started laughing after a few minutes of listening Haru explain something. "You and your family, Haru!" he gasped through his chuckles. He sat up, and listened to her a little more.

"Lune…" Baron said in a low warning voice, but the young king held up one paw to silence him.

"I'll pass it on, Haru. I really am happy for you, but you need to learn to communicate. Are you kidding? Baron was getting ready to head there right now when you called. Yes, it was good hearing from you, too. I'll talk to you again, bye." Lune set his crown back on his head, and broke out laughing again. "Just how many secrets does that girl have?!"

"So she has _two _sisters?" Baron demanded in a low voice.

"That isn't the half of it. They're both princesses, apparently, and one of them is married to the prince of the island."

Muta stared at the young king for a few seconds, and then started laughing, hysterically beating the ground with one paw. "Does… does this mean that she's a princess, too? After all that effort to make sure she wouldn't become one?!"

"I don't know, but she says that you'll understand this part, Baron; her big sister is Kraehe, and her little sister's Tutu."

Baron's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Is she _certain_?" he whispered.

"Very, and that's not the best part. Her little sister is the duck that I just told you about. As far as she can understand it, the Raven kidnapped her the day she was born, just to turn her into a duck."

Baron held one hand to his chin in thought. "That makes sense," he whispered softly. "Princess Tutu was the one to inspire the prince and help him imprison the Raven centuries ago. Toto, this changes Miss Ahiru's predicament, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but I'll want a closer look at her before making any judgments," Toto answered while flying down from his safe perch. "If you need anything from the house, grab it quick. I think Haru owes us a few explanations."

"Yes she does," Baron said heatedly, running back to the house for his favorite cane.

"Do you know the way to Kinkan Town, Bird Brain?" Muta snapped at him while licking the cake crumbs off his plate.

"Of course I do! I was _Created _there!"

"Oh, Baron," Lune called sweetly as the Creation burst from his home, and hopped onto Toto's back. "You took the amulet, so you agreed to tell Haru the truth about your feelings!"

Baron stiffened slightly, but he wasn't about to return the amulet. After a few minutes of fighting his feelings, he sighed, and gave in. "Yes, Lune. I'll tell her the truth."

ooOoo

Baron's thoughts on Haru earlier in the chapter were actually the lyrics from 'Longer I Live' from Frank Wildhorn's Dracula Musical. Never seen the play, love the German version of the music, even if I only understand a handful of the words. I was originally going to have Baron sing it, but he's not the type to burst into random songs, especially when Muta or Toto could be in earshot.

Even if it would have been hilarious.


	19. Resignation

**Chapter Nineteen: Resignation**

Rue stared at Haru incredulously as they sipped their tea. "That story's a lot different than what Fakir told me."

"Cats gossip too much, and who knows how many mouths have embellished my little adventure last year before Fakir heard it?" Haru answered easily, rubbing Ahiru's head with one hand affectionately. "I'm sorry if I disappointed you for being ordinary, after all."

"Oh no, nothing like that," Rue said hastily with a nervous smile. "Actually, I'm glad that the other stories weren't true. I don't know how I'd cope if you really beheaded people for insulting you."

"I've never beheaded anyone in my entire life! I'll admit, I'm tempted where Neko-sensei is concerned, but I'll probably just break a few limbs until he gets my point." She giggled wickedly. _'And that's __**if **__Baron doesn't get at him first. I'm so glad he's on his way.'_

"He picks on everyone, you know," Rue confided.

"Not anymore. One of the other students told me that he stopped threatening marriage and the like to the other girls. Would you believe he tried to make kissing him a penalty for closing my eyes when dancing?!"

Rue stared at her incredulously. "Are you serious?" she asked softly.

"Unfortunately," Haru replied miserably, sipping her tea. "I can barely walk around the school without bumping into him."

Rue sipped her tea thoughtfully. "Last time he showed anyone that kind of treatment, it was when Ahiru was still a human. It sounds like he's really in love this time."

"It's not love," Haru asserted forcefully. "It's an obsession, nothing more! Besides," she added shyly, nibbling at a carrot. "Neko-sensei doesn't stand a chance. I'm in love with someone else."

"Really?! Who?!" her older sister asked eagerly.

"Baron."

Rue stared at her incredulously. "But… you just said that you were only friends with him."

"We are. My feelings aren't returned, at least like that. So, what else do you want to know?"

"Why aren't they returned? Your feelings, I mean?"

Haru bit her lip, and ordered the stabbing pain in her heart to cease. "Men don't take to me very well. They're completely fine about being friends, but then they run away as fast as they can if I hint that I want something more intimate."

"So how do you explain Neko-sensei?" Rue asked slyly, making Ahiru giggle a little in quacks.

Haru sighed. "Because cats find me more attractive than humans do. Five cats have in some way implied that I was desirable. No humans have ever done that."

"Then what about Baron? You said he was a cat, right?"

"Half-cat. I guess his human half cancels out anything stronger for me than friendship. But I'm glad I at least have that. If he, Muta, and Toto had left my life the first time I confessed my feelings for him, I would have been all alone when Mom died. I just may have done something regrettable, if I didn't have them to hold onto," Haru admitted, tracing her teacup's rim with one finger.

Rue looked down at her teacup sadly. "What did she die from?"

"I keep forgetting the technical name for what she had, but it's a genetic disease that attacks the heart. After a period of time, it weakens to the point where it can't beat anymore, and you die. Physical activity speeds up the process by years, and your heart bursts from excursion, instead. That's probably why I hardly have any memories of her dancing. She liked to dance with a needle and fabric instead of her body. She was a wonderful quilter."

"What did she look like?"

Haru smiled warmly. "If I had known earlier that I would be meeting my sisters today, I'd have brought a few photos. Well, if I started wearing small glasses, and my hair had more of Ahiru's red in it, you wouldn't be able to tell me from Mom. A lot of people had some difficulty with that, anyway." She sighed longingly. "Mom was very warm and accepting, except for where birds were concerned. She had a habit of hysterically throwing rocks at birds that got a little too close to me. I guess she never got over the fear that I would be taken from her, too."

Rue nodded, and set her teacup down. "But why weren't you? If you had been taken, and maybe changed into a bird like Ahiru, we never would have found each other, at least like this."

Haru's heart felt like someone was slamming a fist against it. "It's probably because I wasn't a character at all," she said flatly. "I've read the Prince and the Raven repeatedly in the past month, and there is absolutely no mention of anyone that can be mistaken with me in there." _'Except the part where Princess Tutu disappears, but that's already been taken.'_

"I guess that's true," Rue mused, nibbling on a sugar cookie. "There's barely even a mention of Ahiru in it."

"But the mention was enough. I think we should be grateful that I was left, so that I _could _answer all these questions."

Rue sighed her agreement, suddenly looking nervous again. "What… was Father like?" she whispered.

Haru forced herself to remain expressionless. "Well… he was stubborn."

"Stubborn?"

"Very. He was so convinced that you and Ahiru were still alive, that he would work himself to death when he was in Tokyo, just to save up and come here to look for you an average of twice a year for a month each. Even if he had known that it would kill him, he wouldn't have stopped looking for you. I wouldn't be all that surprised if he _did _know it would one day kill him."

Rue's crimson eyes began to overflow with tears. "So, he loved me? He really loved me?"

Haru quickly visualized ripping her heart out, and tossing it into a thick safe so that she wouldn't hear it scream in agony anymore. She forced herself to smile, and give her big sister the words that she herself would have died to hear. "He loved you more than I can express, Rue. He loved you and Ahiru so much, you were all he ever thought about, or talked about. I think that if he could see you right now, he'd be proud."

Tears ran down Rue's cheeks as she threw herself into Haru's lap again. It was still a little wet from the last time she had cried into it, but Haru wasn't about to say anything about it.

She wrapped her arms around Rue's body, and rested her chin on the thick black curls. She was crying as well, but it was silently, and her expression was nothing short of tortured. Her heart howled in grief, even as she comforted her big sister.

'_It's not her fault. It's not her fault. It's Dad's. I did everything I could. It's not her fault.'_

Ahiru landed on her armrest, and nudged her slightly with one wing. Haru looked down at her, only to see a questioning look on the little bird's face, even as tears streamed down either side of her yellow beak.

Haru quickly wiped all traces of suffering from her face, but she knew that her little sister wasn't fooled.

Sister…

Little…

Big…

_Two_…

Her eyes widened in horror, and she held onto Rue even tighter. A fresh wave of pain flooded her heart, to the point where she couldn't resist crying as well.

'_It was __**me**__ he never counted. Oh, Mom; why didn't you tell me that's what he meant by having only two daughters?!'_

ooOoo

"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Fakir asked casually as he urged his mount into a steady trot.

Haru nodded happily from just behind him, Ahiru once again wrapped in one arm. "Very. I've waited my whole life for today."

Fakir laughed softly. "You know, ever since Rue found out that you existed, she's been worrying over whether or not you'd like her."

"She shouldn't have." _'I'm not as picky as Dad.' _"Oh, did I ever bother to tell you about the Bureau, Fakir?"

"I overheard the story you told last night."

"Good. I made contact with them today. They're already on their way."

Fakir's grin was nearly boyish. "Thanks, Haru. I owe you one."

"Are you kidding?" she asked incredulously. "Thanks to you, I found _both _of my sisters when I thought I was only going to find a grave or two. I'm still in your debt, and I'll benefit from Ahiru returning to humanity too, remember?"

The knight nodded as he entered the dormitory neighborhood, and stiffened slightly underneath his cloak. "Can I ask you something, Haru?"

"Sure," she answered while slipping off the back of his horse. "What is it?"

"I… couldn't help but notice the way you looked at Mytho today."

Haru stiffened, and not just from the chill in the air. "Go on," she said ominously.

Fakir sighed while sliding off his horse after her. "Why?" he asked softly. "Why did you glare at him like that on first sight? I never would have been able to bring you here without his help."

Haru nibbled her lower lip in thought, since even _she _didn't know why. "You know how people like to talk about love at first sight?"

He nodded. "I think it's fake, personally."

"It isn't. Dad loved Mom at first sight, and vice versa. I can think of a few other times when it's happened, but the point I was trying to make is that hate at first sight exists, too. I have no idea why, but when I looked at your prince, I **loathed** him."

"_Quack_?!" Ahiru asked in shock.

"He's a good person, and a good ruler," Fakir quickly asserted.

"I know that, but that doesn't change the fact that I hate him." She sighed. "It was a lot easier to hate Lune's father. I actually knew why I hated him. I know I shouldn't hate the prince, but I can't help it. There's something about him that just makes me want to…" Haru didn't dare finish the sentence, choosing instead to make violent gestures with her hands.

"But, surely you wouldn't!" Fakir said nervously.

Haru sighed again. "No. I won't. Rue loves him too much. Can you give him a message for me?"

"Probably."

"Then tell him that despite the fact we probably won't be friends for a long time, if ever, I'm willing to be fair about how things need to be. I'll let Rue be his princess, and he lets her be my big sister. I think that if we both respect those terms, we'll manage to get along just fine."

"So you promise not to harm him?" Fakir nearly begged.

"Yes, but if he breaks my sister's heart again, _nothing_, and I do mean _**nothing**_, will be able to protect him from me." Without warning, Haru started laughing. "You know, it's probably a good thing I was out of town when he was deciding between Rue and Ahiru."

"Yes it was," Fakir muttered under his breath, shifting uncomfortably in his black boots.

"Oh, and that goes for you too, Fakir. You're a nice guy, and I'd hate to do something permanent to you if you happen to hurt my little sister."

The duck in question's mouth dropped open, and she began batting one of Haru's arms while protesting in loud quacks.

Fakir shrank just a bit more from her, and laughed nervously. "You know what the crazy part is, Haru? I know the truth about you, and you're _still _terrifying when you talk like that."

She smiled sweetly at him. "That's because what happened to me, happened nearly a year ago. You'd be surprised at just how much a person can learn in that amount of time. Ahiru, did you want to sleep over again?"

She quacked affirmatively.

"All right then. Good night, Fakir! We'll see you in the morning!"

"See you then," he answered a little shakily, waiting to mount his horse until the two girls were safely inside the dormitory building.

ooOoo

As soon as Haru reached the stairway that led up to her room, she realized that she didn't have a candle or match to guide her. She sighed slightly, and set Ahiru on one of her shoulders so that she could use the stone walls to guide her with both hands. "I know that what I said to Fakir was a little extreme," she apologized to the bird. "But please understand; I've been longing to know you and Rue my whole life. I'm not about to let some boy come by and hurt you, even if he has a rank. I've lost too much family as things stand, thanks all the same."

Ahiru quacked sadly in one of her ears, and rubbed her head against Haru's soft hair.

"I can't wait until you're yourself again," the brunette confided in her happily. "I managed to keep some family treasures from when I had to sell my home in Tokyo, and I can't wait to split them with you and Rue. It just wouldn't be fair to do it before you can speak for yourself."

At last, her probing fingers found the smooth grain of her thick door. Smiling in satisfaction, she fished around her pocket for the key, and patiently worked it into the keyhole with one finger guiding it. She turned the latch, and opened the door.

Haru walked in, glaring at her bed as she shut her door behind her with one foot. "So you _didn't _read the note."

"Oh, I read it all right," Reginald nearly hissed, hopping off her ripped-up satin comforter, and stomping towards her on his hind feet.

She couldn't help but think that his cape was flowing a little overdramatically as he moved closer to her. Her note was clenched in one of his paws, and looked like it had been wrinkled into a ball and tossed around the room a few times.

"But the real question is, why did you lie to me?!" he demanded while crossing his arms over his chest like an angry parent.

The effect was somehow ruined by the fact that he was as tall as her knee.

"I never lied to you," Haru snapped at him, keeping Ahiru on her shoulder in case he got any 'ideas'. "Every word in that note was sincere. It's not my fault that you don't care for honesty."

"Lies," he spat, throwing her note at her feet. "You said in there that you've already given your heart to someone else!"

Her heart froze, gaining a protective coating of ice. "And you think that's a lie?" she asked flatly.

"Well, isn't it?!"

"No. I really am in love with a gentleman from Tokyo."

"But that's impossible!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Haru didn't even think. She gently placed Ahiru on her desk and grabbed Reginald by the back of his neck. She held the brown cat up to her face, and started shaking him around violently. "Just what is wrong with you, Wally?!" she demanded. "If you're trying to win my heart, why are you so shocked that I've already given it away?!"

"Because you _can't_ fall in love! It's not your destiny!" he yelled, one paw holding onto his top hat desperately as the other one gripped his monocle.

"Yeah, well, do you know what I say to Destiny?! _BITE ME_!" she roared to the ceiling, tossing the cat around a little more. "I _am _in love, I'm glad it happened, and I'm not going to stop loving him, _just_ because you don't approve! Now make a choice, Wally; do you want to leave via the stairs or the window?! You could be falling quite some time if you let me choose the window!"

He stared at her with shock. "But… _no _mortal can win your heart!" he stammered.

She smiled grimly as she walked to the window, and struggled to open it with one hand, since he was still being held in the other one. "You look like a mortal to me, Wally. Right now, you look _very _mortal. Let's find out!"

"I'll take the stairs," he quickly added.

"Good boy," she hissed, marching to the other end of the room. But just before she opened the door, she stopped, and looked down at the caped feline.

"Did I just call you Wally?" she asked curiously.

He was still shaking slightly, nodding through his expression of anguish.

"Oh. That must have been my old name for you."

"You remember me?" he asked hopefully.

"No, not really," Haru answered nonchalantly, opening the door, and setting him on the other side of it. "Oh, and for the record, Wally; who said that my special gentleman was a mortal?"

She closed the door on him, and turned to Ahiru while leaning against it. "I used to call him Wally?" she asked incredulously before bursting into hopeless giggles.

ooOoo

He could hear her laughter, even through the thick wood separating them. He growled as he set his top hat back on its perch, and fixed the monocle over his left eye again.

"An immortal? How on earth did she manage to meet one of _them_?" He paced in front of her door a few times, deep in thought.

If she was telling the truth, then he didn't stand a chance. Everything he had been laboring for, ever since before she was born, would be for _nothing_!

But… no. He had sacrificed too much to be tossed out of the game so easily.

The door opened, making him look over hopefully.

"You forgot these!" Haru said cheerfully, setting a newly folded, though slightly torn silver gown on the stone floor next to him, his other gifts piled on top of it; even the flowers.

"Are you _certain _I can't have a place in your life?" he begged.

Haru rolled her eyes at him. "You invade my privacy, spy on me 24/7, and then tell me I can never find love. Why do you expect me to let you in? Even if I did, you'd only be a friend, Wally. Baron's the only one for me." With that, she shut the door on him again.

He cringed from the dreaded name. _Wally_. Her mother had given that to him after taking him in, but he had always despised it. After all, what kind of respect can a name like 'Wally' inspire?!

But Baron, now… _that_ was a name that commanded respect; one that spoke of old bloodlines, and power. What kind of a man was this Baron, to have won something as precious as Haru's heart? What kind of immortal was he? An angel? A vampire? He knew that human girls adored vampires, although he couldn't understand why.

But… surely Haru would never love one that fed off of innocent lives. She was too pure for something like that.

Besides, her fate was tied to that of a feline's, and he was still determined to be that feline. He knew that the feeling he had whenever he looked at the fair brunette was too big to remain one-sided, even with the twin curses hanging over her head.

No matter what, he _had _to beat the immortal Baron, and his overgrown cousin. If that mongrel won again, Reginald would never be able to look at himself in the mirror again.


	20. Melancholy

**Chapter Twenty: Melancholy**

'_Ice. Think only of ice. Lock your heart into it, and let the pain fade away.' She repeated this phrase to herself silently as the ladies-in-waiting bathed her in rosewater, dressed her in her mother's wedding gown, and prepared her private chambers for the wedding night to come._

_Her stomach clenched in dread, and she tried to steer away from those thoughts. Instead, she tried to imagine what her new husband would be like. Would he be gentle? Would he care about her personally? Was it someone she knew, or some goat herder that had only seen her from a distance?_

_She wouldn't have minded the second choice, if she wasn't so certain that the goat herder would take a good look at her and 'mysteriously' change his mind._

"_It's time, my lady," one of the servants said sadly, opening the door to admit the king, who had actually paused long enough to knock on it._

_Despite the fact that out of all the king's daughters, it was she who most resembled her beloved mother, the king barely gave her a glance._

"_That will have to do. Come; thy new husband awaits thee." He hesitated, and then held out an arm for her almost woodenly. _

_She took it stiffly, since it was the first time they had touched in years. __**If **__they had ever touched._

_He led her from her tower room, down the staircase, and to the private chapel within the castle._

_Another servant handed her a pure white bouquet of roses, just before they stepped into the chapel. The organ music swelled as the king entered, the last remaining princess on his arm. _

_She did not smile, nor did she look at anyone. It was all she could do to put one foot in front of the other, barely even caring enough to make the actions graceful._

_Suddenly, her father grabbed her by the elbow, and formally put her hand over her groom's._

_She looked up with disinterest, but then stared._

_Her intended was handsome, though he was perhaps ten years her senior. He had a tan complexion, but his hands were much softer than a common workman's would be. She was used to attractive men, but she _wasn't _used to the way this one was looking at her._

_His large eyes were filled with hopeless adoration, and his hand caressed hers very gently as the priest began the ceremony._

_Something was wrong. Wasn't it prophesied at her birth that no man would desire her heart?_

_But as she thought about the terrible curse, she decided to ignore it. Perhaps if this man cared for her half as much as his eyes said he did, then she had a chance at happiness after all._

_But even as she consoled herself, a lump of ice formed deep in her stomach in dread._

_Something was wrong._

Haru opened her eyes, and sighed softly. "Yeah; what was wrong is the fact that I wasn't marrying Baron."

Where had she seen eyes like that man's before? Why had he been so eager to marry her, if what Wally said was true?

Haru sighed, and gently unwrapped Ahiru from herself and the blanket. But then she stopped short. _'I wonder… the subject of nightmares is very touchy for her.'_

She didn't have any more homework, so she nestled into the bed again, and rewrapped her arms around her feathered sister.

As she waited for her sister to wake up, in whatever fashion she would, Haru studied the quilt over the huge bed.

Since Wally had used the red one to sharpen his claws on, she had dug out the quilt she made a few years back. It wasn't as flashy, but it definitely suited Haru's personality better than the red satin.

'_I better refold it after Ahiru gets up, and hide it in case Wally sneaks into my room again. Oh, drat! I forgot to ask Lune about that anti-stalker charm!"_

Her hand strayed to the gold pendant around her throat, but then she stopped. _'No. I'll wait and see if Baron's bringing them. It'll be less embarrassing for me this way. I wonder how long it will take him to get here. How fast can Toto fly, and for how long?'_

"Stop worrying," she scolded herself as her heart ached slightly. "He will come when he comes, and not before."

Ahiru began trembling convulsively in her arms. Tears squeezed past her guard as her breathing became irregular.

"Sis," Haru said worriedly, shaking the duck slightly to wake her up. "Sis, it's just a nightmare!"

Ahiru gasped painfully as she shot out of the brunette's arms, her eyes flying open as her wings hung uselessly at her sides. She looked up at Haru, her expression still full of horror. "Quack quack," she sobbed, throwing her wings over her sister's chest.

"Shh," Haru crooned softly, again rocking her little sister like a baby. "It was just a bad dream, Ahiru. Everything's fine, see?"

But the little duck refused to be consoled for several minutes.

ooOoo

Haru waited by the tall oak outside the girls' dormitory, with a still-depressed Ahiru on one shoulder. She rubbed her sister's head with her cheek gently, still lost in thought. A large bag was slung over her other shoulder, stuffed tight with a fair-sized photo album and her unfinished knitting project, just in case.

Haru looked up to the sky hopefully, but no crows could be seen. "How much longer do you think Fakir's going to be?"

"Quack," Ahiru answered miserably, tears still running down her face.

"It must have been some nightmare, for you to be this disturbed about it."

The little duck nodded absently.

Haru sighed. There was just no talking to her sister when she was in a mood like this.

Suddenly, something soft bounced off her head. She caught it with one hand, barely; her heart racing happily.

But it was another red rose. She sighed, and looked up into the tree's branches. "Really subtle, Wally. Really subtle."

"Not too subtle for you, I hope?" he asked, sitting demurely in the branch just over her head. His arms were crossed nonchalantly, and his monocle gleamed slightly in the morning sun.

"I've seen worse. So, you haven't given up yet?"

"I don't believe in surrendering a prize such as yourself."

"I'm telling you it's too late, Wally," Haru told him in a singsong voice, one hand reaching up in order to gently rub her sister's head. "I belong, heart and soul, to Baron, and there's not a single thing you can do about it."

"Does he belong to you in the same fashion?" he asked keenly.

Haru reached up without thinking and started shaking the branch hard with one hand. Her tugs were violent enough to make the brown cat nearly fly off the limb, barely hanging on with both arms.

"What is it with you and your cousin asking me questions that are none of your business?" she asked tightly, making Ahiru giggle slightly.

"Is… that… a no?" Wally managed to ask between the violent tugs.

"It's a 'none of your business'!" she snapped at him, holding the branch as far as it would go before suddenly releasing it.

The effect was about the same as it would have been if she had bothered to use a weak catapult.

Wally shot higher into the tree, and a few tears were heard as the branches tore at his human clothing. He meowed harshly in pain, but the brunette was unmoved.

"For the record, I hate doing this to you," Haru told him while setting the rose on the ground next to the tree. "I wish you would stop making me do it. Oh, hey Fakir!"

"What did you just shoot into that tree?" he asked as he rode up to her, and held out a hand.

She grabbed it and heaved herself into the saddle behind him. "The stalker you heard yesterday. Let's go before he tries to stop us."

He looked at her curiously, but obediently rode towards the castle. "It didn't look big enough to be a stalker."

"That's because he's a cat. Only cats think I'm cute enough to bother with."

"Oh, come on!" he scoffed at her over one shoulder. "What's not to like about you?"

"Let me put it this way; if you had never met Ahiru, would _you _find me interesting?" Haru asked tiredly.

His muscles tensed up underneath his blue tunic, and her sensitive nose began to catch a hint of sweat. He made some incoherent sounds, but nothing really issued from his throat.

"My point exactly," Haru murmured softly, looking down at her lap between her arms and Ahiru.

"… I mean, it's not like you're _not _attractive, Haru," Fakir tried to say, his scent of sweat growing stronger. "But… I guess I just…"

"Don't really feel any attraction?" Haru supplied sadly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I brought it up."

'_So am I.'_

ooOoo

Rue looked at the pictures of her mother and then Haru several times while thumbing through the album with Ahiru on her shoulder. "You know, when there's just us three, it's hard to believe that we're all from the same gene pool."

"It's funny how genetics work," Haru agreed, turning the shawl on her lap to start another row. "But at least you know I wasn't making up stories."

Rue laughed, and turned back to the photos. "There are hardly any pictures of Father in here."

"He was always on the run," Haru quickly explained, visualizing sheathing her heart in ice to numb the dull ache. "He hardly had any patience for cameras or anything that wouldn't make him money so he could come here more often."

Rue sighed as she reached the end of the album, and started leafing through it again. "You had a lot of stories about Mother yesterday. Can you please tell us one about Father?"

Haru's hands twitched as her knitting needles clicked, but she wouldn't allow any other sign to betray her feelings. "I can't think of any worth telling," she confessed, not wishing to tell her sisters about all the times he turned his back on her.

"_Please_?" Rue begged, setting the album aside so that she could sit next to Haru's chair, and rest her head on her little sister's lap like a child. "Just one story?"

Haru sighed, and frantically searched her memory bank for something good about her father. "Hmm. There was this one time when I was four. Dad taught intense training for ballet, because it paid better. Well, it was 'Bring your daughter to work' day for him, so I got to watch him teach for a whole day."

She prudently left out the heated debate that had commenced when her mother found out that her father had been trying to keep her or Haru from finding out about the rare occasion. She also left out the part where her father ignored her the whole time, as usual.

"They actually do days like that on the mainland?" Rue asked in surprise.

"Oh, sure. They weren't _too _often, and Dad was here for a number of them, but they happened. Well, he was teaching his students to do a simple back flip. _Attempting_ to, in any case," she giggled. "The students weren't exactly catching on, and they kept falling to the ground in a heap. Dad had to keep stopping the lesson to help the student and to order me to stop laughing."

Rue giggled as Ahiru did the same.

"But it was what he said at the end of the lesson that's made an impression on me," Haru reminisced softly. "Their time was about up, and just about everyone had bruises, including me."

"What?" Rue asked confusedly.

"One of the girls accidentally used me to break her fall. Well, Dad gathered them all up, and gave a small lecture on not letting hardship getting the best of you. Just because they couldn't do it at the time, didn't mean that they wouldn't eventually be able to do a back flip. He also said something about there being hidden potential inside every dancer, and the only difference between the pros and the klutzes is that the pros can access that hidden potential. It may not come out the way you'd like it to, and it might not even be in dance, but the potential _is_ there, if you know how to activate it. Like he said; why bother to walk when you can fly?"

Rue's crimson eyes grew as big as saucers. "That's beautiful," she whispered.

Haru shrugged, just glad that she had that one good memory. "It made an impression on me, I can tell you that much." She turned the shawl over again to start the next row.

"Haru, who are you making that for," Rue asked curiously, gazing at the pretty white lace longingly.

"It was _supposed _to be for Mom, but I didn't see a reason to not finish it after she died. Would you like it?"

"What, you'd give it to me, just like that?" she said with shock.

"Why not? I can always make another if I want one."

Rue was about to shout yes, but then looked down at Ahiru for no reason.

The yellow duck's mouth was hanging open slightly, like she was about to protest, but couldn't.

She looked so sad, Rue couldn't do it. "I think I'll fight Ahiru for it after she's back to normal," she decided out loud. "It's fairer this way."

"Yeah, that would probably be the best idea," Haru giggled, finishing the row as Ahiru gave her oldest sister a grateful look. "So, was there anything in particular you wanted to do today?"

Rue nodded, summoning up her courage. "Can… can you… show me how to do the back flip? _Your _back flip?"

Haru laughed again, and slipped the lacy shawl into her bag. "You're the second person to ask me that. I didn't bring my outfit, Big Sis."

"I have several, and we're the same size. _Please_?"

"Oh, all right," Haru surrendered, throwing her hands up in the air.

Rue wasted no time in picking out her little sister's outfit while grabbing one for herself. The black-haired princess chose her signature red for herself, and a buttercup yellow for the brunette.

Haru had to sharply restrain memories from the Cat Kingdom while pulling on the tights and pointe shoes. "I'm assuming that this place has a practice room?"

"Of course! Mytho and I spend hours in it," Rue answered dreamily, setting Ahiru on her shoulder before showing Haru out of her room.

"You know, I wouldn't admit this to just anyone," Rue confessed in a low voice, nodding politely at the servants they passed. "But you're better than me."

"What?" Haru asked incredulously, though softly.

"In ballet, I mean. I saw that video Paulamoni-san did of you, and I couldn't pull off a third of that. Father must have been an amazing teacher," she said regretfully.

"He was, but he didn't teach me any of that." _'He couldn't be bothered to teach me much of anything.'_

Rue stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth open with shock.

"I studied hard for ten years straight, and broke a lot of bones in the process. After I had taken a little break, the Cat Kingdom thing happened, and it altered my DNA. That's why I can do what I can. Hard work and magic remnants," Haru quickly explained, her face turning a little red. _'I won't tell her why. I refuse to tell her why I worked so hard!'_

Rue was still staring at her, so Haru grabbed her by one elbow, and kept walking.

"But I can still try to show you what to do. I'm doing the same for a fellow student tomorrow after classes."

Rue was about to say something, but then became distracted as a random young man with glasses walked out into the hallway with an armful of books. "Oh, hello, Autor! Have you met my sister Haru yet?"

The blue-haired young man looked up from the book he was reading, and smiled softly at the princess before turning his eyes to Haru.

She couldn't see the color of his eyes, because the glare from the sun was hitting them just right, but she could see how the rest of his face shifted.

First, his mouth fell open, nearly hitting the floor. Then his already-pale skin turned paler, and an unholy scream worked its way past his throat.

Haru screamed in surprise, hopping up in order to attach herself to an overhanging buttress several feet overhead. "Don't do that!" she snarled at him, but he had already dropped the books and started running down the hall, like she was already on his tail.

A few minutes after he passed out of sight, a door slammed shut violently.

Haru shook her head angrily, and banged it once against the buttress in frustration. She then jumped down, her body in a crouching position before she straightened, and gave her sisters a nervous look. "It was embarrassing enough to be caught off-guard _before_ I got a feline upgrade. I'm sorry for acting like that, but you saw how he yelled at me without provocation!" she said angrily, pointing down the hallway with one accusing finger.

Rue was still staring at her, her mouth open in shock, and just a hint of horror.

"Um…" Haru said uncomfortably, shifting around in place. "Didn't you want me to teach you the back flip?"

Strangely, Rue started shaking her head, slowly at first, and then incredibly fast. "I can't believe it," she whispered, taking Ahiru between her hands. "You recognized that scream too, don't you?!"

The yellow duck gave a relieved sigh, and nodded firmly.

"You've known for a while?" the princess asked in a slightly sick voice.

Ahiru nodded again, and started quacking up a storm.

"What's wrong?" Haru asked worriedly. "Why is my scream so important?"

Rue looked at her with eyes filled with horror. "Because Ahiru and I have been hearing it in our nightmares for almost a month, now. Do you sing at all?"


	21. Joy

The song used for the beginning of this chapter was taken from An American Tail. I've been wanting to use it for a while now.

**Chapter Twenty-One: Joy**

"When I feel like it, but-"

Rue cut her off. "Would you please sing something? Right now?"

"In the middle of the hallway?" Haru complained. "I'll feel like an idiot!"

Rue grabbed her hand without a further word, and nearly dragged her to a door at the end of the hallway.

The sheer size of the room rivaled that of the Cat King's banquet hall.

Rue quickly locked the door behind her, and looked at Haru again. "What about now?" she begged.

"Will you explain the dream if I do?"

"Yes, anything! Just start singing!"

Haru sighed while shrugging. "All right. Here's something Mom used to sing when I was feeling bad and needed help going to sleep." _'I know I should say worse than usual, but oh well.' _"She also used to sing it when she was thinking about you two, so don't be shocked if I start crying."

Rue and Ahiru shook their heads in sync with each other, and urged her again to start singing.

She began with a soft crooning voice. "_Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight, someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight._ _Somewhere out there, someone's saying a prayer that we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there._" She kept her eyes on Rue, a little disturbed by how her sister was staring at her, like she was terrified.

Ahiru, on the other hand, just looked sad.

Haru smiled at them, and held out a comforting hand to touch Rue's other shoulder gently, trying to sing the song the way their mother used to. "_And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star. And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think that we're sleeping underneath the same big sky._" She took a deep breath, loving the next part of the song.

Haru was unashamed of her tears, although her heart ached. She wished with all her heart that her mother could have come back with her, and _meet_ the daughters she had longed for, for all these years. "_Somewhere out there, if love can see us through, then we'll be together. Somewhere out there, out where dreams come true-._" She finished the song with a soft crooning voice, like one would sing a lullaby.

But then her head snapped to the side without warning, and her eyes became angry. She wiped her tears away immediately.

She stalked over to the large glass door that led to a balcony, and slammed it shut on a weeping cat's face. "Will you stop following me everywhere, Wally?! Get a life outside of me, I'm _begging_ you!"

"But _Haru_! That was so lovely! Please, I just want a few moments!" The red-clad cat started meowing pitifully and scratching at the glass, but Haru pulled a long blue curtain over the door so that he wouldn't be able to see her anymore.

She slapped her hands together in a satisfied manner while turning back to her sisters. "There; do you still think you've been listening to me every night, Big Sis?"

Rue couldn't say anything. She threw her arms around her little sister's neck, and started crying like someone had broken her heart. Ahiru walked across her shoulder to Haru's and started nuzzling her cheek while quacking sadly, tears still running down her face.

Unsure of what to do, Haru squeezed her big sister gently. "Come on, guys. What's so bad about my singing?"

"It's… it's not the singing," Rue gasped through her sobs. "It's the screaming and crying that's so terrible."

"Rue, just tell me what the dream is. I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

"Well… first there's your voice. Ahiru and I couldn't see anything, but we could hear you singing. You sounded so sad, like you were trying to cheer yourself up despite the fact that you knew it was hopeless."

'_That doesn't sound so implausible,' _Haru concluded glumly. "Did anything else happen?"

"You stopped for a while, and started screaming. It was _terrible_," Rue sobbed, hugging her even tighter. "You kept saying, 'No, don't take them away from me! Someone, help me!' But no one ever did. You screamed for several minutes, and when it was over, you cried. It was like someone had taken away everything you had ever loved."

"And you didn't see anything, right?"

"No. It was like being trapped in a black mist. I could tell you were near, but I couldn't move an inch to help you. It was terrible," Rue wept.

Haru crooned softly and rocked her older sister like a child. She nibbled her lower lip in thought, trying to figure out the strange dream. "You know, it still might not have been me. I used to hear all the time that Mom and I sounded the same. Isn't it possible that you heard Mom crying over losing you two for all these years?"

Rue shook her head, and bit back another sob. "No, Haru. It was definitely _you_ we heard."

She hummed a little. "This sounds like something Baron should know about, when he gets here. Maybe he knows something about dreams that I don't." She patted her sister's thick black hair, and smiled softly. "I wonder why almost none of my dreams had you or Ahiru in them."

Rue looked up at her sharply. "You've been having dreams?" she asked fearfully.

Haru nodded. "Before I came to the island, I'd relive the day Ahiru was kidnapped by the ravens, ever since Mom died. Then after I came here, I was treated to reliving some of my worst memories. The latest ones have been the weirdest though," she confessed with a giggle.

"How weird?!" Rue demanded as Ahiru patted her cheek, and quacked for her to tell.

"Well… I'm feeling really sorry for myself, our father was alive and a king, and he was making me marry a complete stranger to continue the family line. I haven't dreamed past that part yet, but I had a terrible feeling about my groom. Oh, and everyone spoke in thee's and thou's."

Rue looked at her in confusion. "That _is _pretty weird. I doubt Father would really marry you off to a stranger."

'_You'd be surprised,' _Haru longed to say, but didn't dare. "We'll tell Baron about the dreams when he gets here," she promised with a smile. "Everything will be just fine, I promise."

Rue nodding, brushing away her remaining tears with one furious hand. "We have to tell Mytho," she said in a firm voice, grabbing Haru's hand to start dragging her out of the room.

"Hold on! Why tell _him_?" Haru asked, taking her hand back.

"Because he needs to know! I promised I'd tell him who the singer was as soon as I figured it out, and what if someone tries to hurt you for real?!"

"Are you kidding? I can take care of myself, and Baron can cover whatever I can't," Haru protested, not wanting to let _that boy _know about her weaknesses.

"A promise is a promise," she said stubbornly, running out of the room.

Haru watched the door close behind her big sister mutely. She sighed, and turned to Ahiru, who was still on her shoulder. "Well, did you want to dance with me instead?"

"Quack?" she asked, obviously a little surprised by how quickly her sister was changing the subject.

"Come on, pretty please?" Haru coaxed, walking out to the center of the cavern-like room. Very gently she took her little sister from her shoulder and set her on the cool floor. "It'll give us something to do until she comes back, if nothing else."

Ahiru blushed a bit, and looked down at her webbed feet. Her beautiful blue eyes were sad as she quacked in a low voice.

Haru saddened a little. "Are you embarrassed about your abilities?"

Dismally, Ahiru nodded.

Smiling softly, Haru got down on her knees, and picked up her sister again long enough to kiss her forehead again. "I'm not sure what everyone else has been saying about the way you dance, but do you know what I learned a year ago?"

Ahiru looked up at her sharply.

"It doesn't matter if you're good or not. If you're having fun, who cares what other people think? I'll love you, no matter how you dance, Little Sis." Again, she kissed her sister's head, the stray feather tickling her cheek. She set the little duck down, and stood up. She twirled once with her arms in the air, keeping her eyes on Ahiru. "Pretty please? I want to dance with my little sister."

Ahiru's smile was breathtaking, even with the beak in the way. She nodded, and held her wings in front of her while rising nearly to the tips of her feet.

Haru smiled as well, and twirled once, keeping her eyes on her feathered sister. As they danced, Haru forced her eyes to remain open so that she wouldn't accidentally step on Ahiru.

She had to admit, she was impressed with her little sister. Although she had been told repeatedly that Ahiru wasn't any good at ballet, it was obvious that she had kept practicing after reverting back to a full-time duck.

They pirouetted as one, circling each other happily. It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't fancy, but it was from the heart, and that was all that mattered.

'_Dancing with my sister's a much better way to ensure my eyes will stay open. If I weren't so worried for Ahiru's safety around Neko-sensei, I'd take her with me to those early classes.'_

Suddenly, a sound distracted her. It was… applause?

Haru and Ahiru stopped dancing to see who was clapping. Haru looked to the large glass door she had shut earlier. She gasped as her sister trembled slightly.

It was Baron.

But, he was so _tall_! As tall in her vision as he had been when she was at a cat height. He was leaning against the open doorframe, a warm smile on his face as he lowered his gloved hands slightly.

Wally was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't mean offense, Haru, but I like this style much better than what you did in Japan-"

Baron was cut off as Haru threw herself into his arms, and wrapped her own around his chest. He stumbled backward from the force, but quickly regained his balance to wrap his arms around her happily.

"How…?" she whispered into his pressed white shirt after a moment of blissful closeness. A bit of cold gold was strapped around his neck, warming itself by Haru's cheek.

"Well, Toto was able to fly us here in short order, but he desperately needed to rest when we arrived, just now." He gestured out the balcony a bit, letting her see the new gargoyle on one of the walls of the castle.

"I meant your height," Haru giggled, rubbing her cheek against his chest happily.

"Ah," he floundered, sounding embarrassed as he held her in his arms. "Lune thought that I might be of more service to you at this size. And speaking of service, I believe you owe me an explanation."

Haru flinched. "I'm sorry for keeping another sister secret. I was never sure if I had one or two, and it hurt a little less to think of only one missing sister."

"How could you _not _be sure?" he demanded, taking her by the shoulders and holding her back a little. "Surely your parents would have told you how many siblings were missing!"

"Mom said there were three daughters, Dad said two, endless hours of fighting," Haru explained in an irritated tone, praying that he wouldn't interrogate her about it. That was the _last _thing she wanted to talk about. "I should have known Mom was right, but at least they're found!"

Baron sighed tiredly. "Just what am I going to **do** with you, Haru?"

"Another hug would be appreciated," she said hopefully.

Without warning, one of her nightmares returned to her mind; the one where her father had refused to hug her before breaking his promise to her mother. Her heart froze for a second.

Baron looked at her, and chuckled warmly as he drew her close again. "Now don't get me wrong, Haru; I'm quite grateful that you had Lune tell me of your sister's problem. Do you have **any** idea how dull life is without you?"

A goofy grin overtook her face as she squeezed him happily. "How could I? I'm not around when it happens, remember?" _'I __**knew **__Baron would hug me without a second thought. Why couldn't Dad have been more like him?'_

Baron laughed at her again, and squeezed affectionately.

Haru had always loved the feel of his arms. She always felt so warm and safe, the one or two times he could wrap her up in them. She made a mental note to thank Lune at the earliest opportunity.

"A-hem!" Muta growled as he waddled into the room from the balcony. "Can you two wait until you're alone? We've got a job to do!"

"Killjoy," Haru pouted while reluctantly stepping away from Baron. She looked at her trembling little sister, and giggled while walking over to her. "It's okay, Little Sis. They may be cats, but they know that they'll be dead cats if they try to eat you."

"Quack?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Of course I'm sure," Haru consoled her as she picked her up, and presented her to the Cat Creation. "Baron, this is my little sister, Ahiru. Little Sis, this is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen. And the fatso's Muta."

"Hey! I thought we agreed no more fat jokes," he growled at her.

"I don't remember making an agreement like that," she replied with an evil grin, watching Baron tip his hat at the duck in her hands.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Ahiru. Your sister tells me you have quite a problem on your… _wings_."

Ahiru quacked darkly under her breath.

"We'll never know that if you don't give us a chance to try."

The duck quickly looked up at him in shock. "_Quack_?!"

"You mean Haru can't? Surely there's someone on the island that can understand what you say."

The little bird shook her head numbly, a wild smile crossing her face.

"Wait, you can understand her?" Haru asked excitedly. _'I should have expected this. Toto could talk with cats, why couldn't Baron talk with birds?'_

"Quite clearly. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, Miss Ahiru, would you mind telling me in your own words what happened to you?"

She nodded, took in a deep breath, and started quacking up a storm. Haru didn't understand a word of it, but Baron obviously did.

His expression was calm and calculating as he gently took Haru by one arm, and led her out to the balcony so that they could sit on the stone benches as Ahiru continued to quack.

Haru couldn't help but feel a little jealous, that Baron could have a decent conversation with her little sister and she couldn't. But she pushed those thoughts aside. With any luck, Ahiru wouldn't be quacking for much longer. She held her sister with one hand on her lap, and scratched Muta's ears with the other one, since he was sitting on the other side of her.

Baron nodded occasionally through the duck's narrative, and asked one or two questions concerning the pendant she had used to change into a human.

Then without warning, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Would you mind repeating that, Miss Ahiru?" he nearly hissed.

She nodded, and quacked again, her eyes nearly desperate.

"What's eatin' ya, Baron?" Muta rumbled between his purrs.

"I'm betting that Ahiru's telling him about the dreams she's been having about me," Haru replied softly, slightly intimidated by the way Baron slowly stood up, his eyes nearly on fire.

"_Over my dead body_," Baron growled dangerously, "will _anyone_hurt Haru like that!"

"Like what?" Muta asked, sitting up from his comfortable position.

"Ahiru and Rue have been dreaming that someone's going to make me scream and cry like there's nothing worth living for anymore," Haru quickly explained, watching Baron pace the balcony like a caged tiger. "But to be honest, I think it's whoever that comes after me that should be screaming, sooner or later."

"Oh, believe me; he'll be screaming _long _before I'm through with him," Baron muttered darkly.

Ahiru quacked happily, snuggling into her big sister's lap.

"Haru?"

She looked into the room, noticing that Rue had returned, with her husband and his knight in tow. The brunette smiled as she stood up, cradling Ahiru in one arm. She took Baron by the hand, and walked back into the room with Muta just behind them.

"Baron, I'd like you to meet my big sister, Princess Rue, her husband, Prince… do you prefer Siegfried or Mytho?" she suddenly asked, fighting back her initial feeling of revulsion for the prince.

"Mytho is fine," the white haired young man replied, staring at the giant cat with a quiet bemusement.

"And this is his knight, Sir Fakir. Guys, this is Baron and Muta from the Cat Bureau. Toto's still resting outside."

Rue smiled brightly as she nodded at them, although she was looking at Baron. "It's nice to finally meet you. Haru won't stop talking about you."

"So what else is new?" Muta chuckled.

"Be nice," Baron told him sternly.

Fakir stepped forward, since the prince was hesitating, and shook Baron's hand warmly. "I know it's a little early to ask this, but is there any way that Ahiru can be a human again?"

"There _are _a few spells and talismans that Miss Ahiru could use, but unfortunately, they're kept under lock and key by the Bird King. After Toto rests a bit, he's going to have a good look at Miss Ahiru, and then see if he can beg or steal one of them."

"You'd resort to burglary?" Haru asked with a surprised giggle.

"It wouldn't be the first time. It's a quiet way of ensuring that certain trinkets return to their proper owners without resorting to bloodshed," he replied with a roguish grin.

Rue and Fakir looked at each other, and actually started laughing.

ooOoo

Toto held one wing to his chin thoughtfully, a few hours later. The company had gathered in the library to discuss what to do with Ahiru's predicament. Everyone but Haru, Baron, and Muta were nervous about the big bird, but that could have been because he faintly resembled a raven.

Haru couldn't help but notice that the librarian Autor was nowhere to be seen. She grimaced, wondering what kind of wild stories he had heard to make him react the way he had earlier.

"And that's how things stand right now?" Toto asked, once Ahiru's story had been repeated one more time.

"More or less," Fakir replied glumly, one finger playing with the wild feather that stuck off of Ahiru's head. "But is there anything we can do about it?"

"It'll be tricky," Toto admitted, preening one wing thoughtfully. "I think I remember an old story about some swans that were both human and bird. I'll go to the Bird Kingdom in the morning and see if I can look it up."

"Will they allow you into the library?" Rue asked worriedly. She was back in her regular dress, since it didn't look like there would be any dancing lessons for today.

"Birds carve their stories and history in stone. The kingdom has large slabs of carved rock with writing all over the place. And even if I can't find it, there's a special flock that categorizes the slabs. They'll help me find the right story."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Muta complained while grinning evilly. "If Chicky's sisters are princesses, isn't she one too?"

Haru shuddered. "After all that effort to _avoid_ a crown? I don't think so!"

Mytho, however, rubbed his wedding ring thoughtfully. "It's a possibility, you know. If Rue and Ahiru have alter egos, it's conceivable that you do as well, Haru." He flinched from the flames that appeared in the girl's eyes.

Haru managed to smile thinly. "Well, even if I did, it wouldn't matter, would it? The Raven's gone, I don't have a magic talisman- that can enhance my dancing skills," she quickly added when Baron made to protest. "There isn't even a real enemy around anymore."

ooOoo

Drosselmeyer grinned evilly, as he watched them make plans. "That's what _you _think, precious," he purred, rocking in his chair with Uzura on his lap.

She beat her little drum softly. "Are the kitties gonna get her _this_ time, zura?" she asked sadly.

"Just you wait and see, Uzura. Just you wait and see," he gloated ominously.


	22. Chagrin

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Chagrin**

No. It wasn't true. It _couldn't _be true!

Reginald stared with open-mouthed envy as the girl of his dreams joked happily with a giant half-cat over dinner, and then again when the prince loaned Baron a horse so he could escort Haru to her dorm.

He couldn't help but notice how relaxed and happy she seemed, whenever she looked at the orange and cream feline.

He could see how the immortal could have charmed her. After all, his charm, and even his manner of dress were incredibly similar to Reginald's.

But… there was something else. Something that the immortal possessed that Reginald didn't, that positively enchanted the fair Haru.

In an instant, he realized just what it was. How could he hope to compare to one with an eternal heart?

He held one paw to his chin in thought, as one of his fatter underlings approached him hesitantly.

"What do we do now, Boss?" the one-eyed cat asked slowly.

"Be quiet," he scolded softly, staring down the road that she had taken to the Academy. "This is only a minor problem, nothing more."

"But how will you get to be king if she's already chosen the-"

Reginald nonchalantly stepped on the giant spider to silence him. "He hasn't truly chosen her, though. At least not yet. That should buy me the time I require to… set things in the proper order. In the meantime, all of you will have slightly different orders to follow. Remember: if the immortal _accepts _her heart, and gives her his own in return, then it will be too late."

After all; faint heart never won fair lady.

ooOoo

_There was little her husband liked more than watching her dance, and it was her duty to please him in all things._

_That duty had consumed her life. Her father still stayed as far from her as possible, except for court functions. Even her husband was busy, learning how to run the kingdom under her father's tutelage._

_But he always made time for her, unlike her father had. He always asked her if there was anything he could do for her, love still shining in his eyes like a beacon. If there was anything he liked more than watching her dance, it was dancing with her. He had a natural grace that was strangely akin to that of a feline._

_That was something she couldn't understand. Her husband made her happier than she had been in years, and they __**were **__a smart match for each other. Several courtiers were always quick to remind her of that fact, whenever she let her mask of bliss slip a bit._

_So why didn't she love him? She liked him, of course, but it wasn't love, she was certain of it. Surely her heart would beat faster in her chest when he was near if she loved him, and surely she would think of him more intimately if she did._

_So why didn't she? _

_It didn't make any sense. If she couldn't love her husband… than who __**could **__she love?_

_She pushed those traitorous ideas aside, and took a deep breath before telling her husband one night that she was expecting their firstborn child._

_He was delighted beyond words. He picked her up by the waist and whirled her over his head happily until she begged him to put her down, fearing risk to the babe in her womb._

_She promised the child, before it had been beneath her heart for a moon's cycle, that it would receive the love and care her father had never shown her._

_Meanwhile, the ice in her heart had not melted. Something was still terribly wrong._

Haru sat up straight in bed, and felt her lower stomach with horror.

There was a cold spot there, like someone had cut her open while she was asleep, and had filled her lower abdomen with a large chunk of ice. It was the exact place where just a second before, she thought an unborn child had been.

Something _had _been terribly wrong with that dream.

"I didn't love him?" she whispered to herself in horror. "I was carrying his child, and I didn't even love him?"

"What did you say?!" Baron nearly yelled, snapping out of his wooden state on her windowsill like a whip.

As Haru quickly struggled to think of a plausible story, he jumped from her windowsill, one hand playing with the golden amulet. As he stalked toward her, he grew in size until he could sit comfortably on the side of her bed.

Absently, Baron rubbed Muta's back, since he had been sleeping on the foot of her bed. "Well?" he asked in a slightly stiff tone.

Haru played with one of her bangs nervously. "I, um… kind of forgot to mention this yesterday, but… I've been… having some weird dreams for the past few nights," she suddenly spat out in a rush.

"How 'weird' do you mean by that?" he asked in a slightly ominous tone, reaching across the bed to take her by the hand.

She looked down at his hand, and gulped nervously. "Well…" she suddenly laughed nervously. "In the dreams, I'm a depressed princess stuck in an arranged marriage. My husband adored me, but…" Haru trailed off, looking into Baron's glowing orbs. "But he was just a friend in my eyes. I was carrying his child, and I didn't even love him. Can you believe that?"

Baron reached over without thinking, and pulled her onto his lap. "No," he whispered harshly, wrapping her possessively in his arms. "I _can't _believe that. You would never put up with an arranged marriage."

Haru looked down at her lap shamefully. "I might have. If Father had told me to." She didn't even notice how she was starting to talk the way her dream self did.

Baron looked at her with horror. "_Just _for that, Haru?"

She sighed, and leaned into his chest. "There were a lot of things I would have done for my father, if he ever bothered to ask me." She laughed cynically. "I'd probably turn him down flat if he returned from the dead and tried it now, but before I met you…" She didn't have to finish the sentence.

He rubbed her head gently while holding it against his shoulder. He shook his head as an angry growl escaped his throat. "Haru, it's all well and good to honor your father's wishes, but… you need to draw the line _somewhere_!"

She looked up at him, and smiled weakly. "I thought you wanted me to move on, Baron."

"Ah, well," he floundered, blushing underneath his fur. "Not if it means trapping you in a loveless marriage, Haru. You deserve to be happy, even if your father didn't think so."

'_He __**knows**__?'_ she thought with horror.

Baron growled with disgust, kissing her hair gently. "Any father that would order you to do such a thing didn't deserve you, Haru. I don't know much about him, but the little I've been gleaning isn't good. You're a wonderful girl, Haru, and no one has the right to tell you differently. Especially your father."

She stared at him for a full minute, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. _'So he doesn't know. Thank heaven!' _She squeezed hard as a few tears streamed down her face. "I wish someone had bothered to tell me that, years ago. Thank you, Baron." She rubbed her cheek against his vest happily, feeling like a great weight had lifted from her heart.

It could have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that his heart beat faltered, since her ear was pressed against it.

His breathing also started coming in a little unsteadily. "… Speaking of telling you things, Haru… there's something I truly should have mentioned before now."

She looked up into his strangely frightened eyes. "I'm listening," she encouraged him gently.

He nodded, and took a deep breath. "Haru… I-"

Something crashed hard against her window, making the glass crack terribly.

Haru hopped off Baron's lap with a surprised meow on her lips.

Looking incredibly irritated, Baron stormed over to the window, and carefully opened it to search in vain. "Who on earth could have managed to hit _this _window in the first place?!"

"More to the point, who would want to?" Haru replied, walking behind him to touch one shoulder gently. "Could it have been a bird?"

Baron glared out the window a little longer, and then closed it with a sigh. "Yes. That must have been it."

Haru shook her head sadly. "Glass scratched up, loaned quilt in ruins… I'm going to get thrown out if this keeps up. What was it you wanted to tell me, just now?" she asked curiously.

Baron looked at her a little helplessly, and fidgeted a little.

"Yeah, Baron," Muta drawled while purring evilly, now fully awake. "Wasn't there something you wanted to say?"

The Cat Creation glared angrily at his fat friend, and sighed in a defeated manner. "It can wait, Haru."

For a little longer, in any case.

To evade the uncomfortable silence that followed, Haru excused herself to change into her uniform in the bathroom.

Baron waited patiently, sitting on just the edge of her bed while glaring at Muta. "For one that says repeatedly that he wants me to tell her the truth, you most certainly aren't helping."

The fat cat shrugged, still grinning evilly. "So… do you want me to tag along with you and Chicky all day?"

"… No," Baron decided. "Why don't you go around the town and collect information?"

Muta snorted. "Information on what?"

"Haru's family. Find out as many details as you can, and report back to me as soon as possible."

The creamy feline started licking his face in a lazy manner. "Wouldn't it be easier to just ask _her_?"

"Perhaps, but it's almost impossible to get accurate information out of her. The little misunderstanding concerning her number of sisters has proven that. _Please_, Muta. Just do it. I can't tell her anything like _that_ with you making snide comments in the background."

Muta shrugged, and hopped off the bed to scratch at her door. "All right, but I'm making a pit stop at the kitchen first."

ooOoo

Neko-sensei was pacing madly in front of the door, glancing up at the clock every two seconds. He licked his face nervously, but forced himself to keep his composure.

This was his last chance to prove to the girl of his dreams that he was worthy of her. He couldn't afford to let his emotions get the best of him again. Deep breath; in, and out.

If he stayed calm, she would be his before long. Oh, how _delicious _it will be, once they were married! He should have known from the beginning that the right one would appear when she was ready.

It had been amusing to frighten the other girls with marriage for all these years, but now he was glad that he hadn't managed to marry one of them. _'Eyes on the prize,' _he chanted silently to himself, licking his face one more time. _'Eyes on the prize. And what a prize she is! She must pas de deux like an angel… I can't wait to find out for myself.'_

At last, the door opened.

He turned around slowly, allowing an easy smile to cross his face. "Good morning, Haru-SAMA?!" he suddenly shrieked disbelievingly.

"Good morning, Neko-sensei," the brunette answered with a slightly smug smile. She released the tawny cat's arm long enough to set her towel on one of the racks. "This is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, the gentleman I told you about on Friday. Baron, that's Neko-sensei."

"Yes," Baron said in a deep, angry voice while glaring at the teacher. "You've mentioned him."

And it was clear to the purple and tan cat that she hadn't said much in his defense.

'_Oh no; he's gorgeous, titled, __**and **__a cat!' _"Haru-sama, what is the meaning of this?!" he demanded as she performed the regular stretches, still grinning wickedly.

"Simple. Baron's going to make sure that you don't try anything foolish, like you did repeatedly on Friday. No hard feelings."

"He can't be on the academy's property! I can have him arrested-"

"The prince would not appreciate that," Baron drawled, taking out a folded piece of paper and waving it slightly for the stalker to see. "Especially after all the trouble he took to write me a free pass to go anywhere I please on the island. You're not terribly attached to your head, are you?"

Neko-sensei's mouth froze open in horror.

Haru sighed tiredly. "Look, just let it go and be my sensei, already. Is there anything in particular you wanted to cover?"

Neko-sensei sighed sadly, turning away from the orange feline. "Your eyes still need some work," he said in a broken tone.

He started asking her to do different tricks again, keeping a golden eye on her brown ones, despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to take advantage of the penalty with the _other _cat around.

But then he realized something, as she back-flipped and twirled around the room. Never once did she blink, and her eyes stayed firmly on the mysterious Baron.

"Kindly keep your eyes on _me_," he chided, a little irritated by being forgotten so easily.

Haru looked at him, but it wasn't long before her eyes trailed to Baron again.

Neko-sensei looked at his rival casually.

There was such a _tender _expression on his face, as he watched her dance. He leaned against one of the walls, one gloved hand casually playing with a darkly polished cane.

He **despised** that thief! Even if he didn't remind him so much of his 'perfect' cousin, he hated him on the grounds that, for some unknown reason, Haru adored _him_, and not himself.

It just wasn't fair. His mother had said that he would know his bride on first glance. He had tried to make himself believe in one girl or another as the years stretched on and on without a mate, but it was for nothing.

Once he first saw a picture of Haru-sama, he knew the search was over, but it appeared that the battle for her heart had just begun.

If only he had _only_ his cousin to fight with over her…

ooOoo

Haru looked over her shoulder nervously, still waiting for the familiar feline shadows to appear.

"A little nervous, are we?" Baron chuckled, patting her arm gently, since it was intertwined with his own. They were walking down the hallway together to her last class for the day.

It was too bad that Paulamoni-sensei had called in sick today, and her husband had done the same to give her what comfort he could. Baron was rather looking forward to seeing how the couple would react to the fact that he wasn't just a doll.

"You don't understand," she whispered almost shrilly. "They've been following me all over the place ever since I came to the Academy."

"Then where are they, Haru?" he asked with a small smile, nodding at yet another student that stopped and stared at him with an open mouth. "My senses are even sharper than yours, and I can't sense anyone following us."

Haru sighed, and held onto his arm with both of her own. "I want to say Wally's people have finally left me alone… but…"

"But?" he prodded her gently, a bit of concern working its way into his heart.

"I… just don't think Wally's going to give up that easily. Baron, will you promise me you'll be careful, just in case?"

"Haru, I think we both know that I can handle a few stubborn cats," he laughed, his hand still on her arm in a comforting manner.

"I know, but…" Her heart throbbed painfully. "If something ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. Please, be careful?"

His beautiful green eyes softened as he looked at her with so much concern. "If it means that much to you, I'll promise. But you know I'm always careful."

"I want to be sure," she whispered, holding onto his arm a little tighter. "Just in case."

Why was there still ice in her body? What was wrong?


	23. Loathing

**Chapter Twenty Three: Loathing**

Reginald looked at his map one more time, one claw carefully tracing the path up the mountain, which was always covered with snow and ice. His green eyes narrowed as he thought over his options.

In order to execute his plan, his people would have to catch the princess when the immortal wasn't guarding her. He growled with frustrated envy, remembering the reports of Haru allowing the mysterious Baron to sleep in her room, even if he was in plain view of the window the entire night.

A _doll_? She was turning him down for a stupid living _doll_?! So what if he could change his size?!

"If only she had never met him!" Reginald lamented once again, slamming his paws against the table, which was littered with papers. "She just may have given her heart to _me _by now, if he had never been in the picture!"

A small rebellious part of him wondered just how different her story would have been, if the immortal had even put in a cameo in those worn pages. His eyes automatically trailed to the slightly worn book sitting next to his favorite chair, its golden title gleaming slightly in the candlelight.

Sighing he walked over to the chair, and sat in it to leaf through the book again. It was so depressing, that his mother could never read it all in one go.

But he could. He could not only read the entire story, cover to cover, he'd sometimes do it repeatedly for days on end. Yes, it was quite possibly one of the saddest tales ever written, but it nonetheless held appeal to him. While reading it, he would tell an accompanying tale in his mind, starring himself as a dashing knight racing to her rescue. One that would hold her, comfort her as even her no-good _husband _turned his back on her.

Or even better; _he _was her husband, one that loved and honored her more than any crown. That was all she had ever really wanted, and it broke his heart to watch hers shatter, again and again as he repeatedly read her story.

He had been watching her family, before she was born. And when that glorious day came, he knew as soon as he saw her that _she_ was the princess he had practically been born loving. He had hated her parents for leaving him behind when they took her to Japan, but now he despised them for it.

Perhaps if he had been able to watch over her as she grew, he could have prevented whatever happened that led to her first meeting with the immortal. Now he would have to play dirty to win the princess of his dreams back from that overgrown thief.

He never thought he'd ever use that term for someone other than his brainless cousin.

In the meantime, he allowed his thugs to believe that he was only after a crown through her. He doubted any of them could understand the purity of love.

ooOoo

Although Haru had promised only Rosie some help after classes, almost half of her class had been in the practice room when she showed up with Baron at her side.

But she didn't mind. If anything, perhaps it would help to break barriers between her and the other students. She had worried about music, until Baron nonchalantly sat himself at the piano bench and began playing beautifully.

Smiling happily, Haru encouraged the girls to start dancing. It didn't matter how badly they did it, all she cared about was if they tried. Haru neatly wove her way between the students gracefully, whispering suggestions or words of encouragement as she passed.

When she reached Rosie, she smiled wickedly. "Jump!" she ordered, grabbing her waist like a male dancer.

The blonde girl jumped as hard as she could, which wasn't really all that much. But Haru provided the remaining lift, carefully manipulating the girl's body for a single back flip before landing her safely on the ground behind her.

Rosie stumbled slightly as she landed; an ecstatic smile on her lips as she giggled with delight.

"Oh, me next! Me next!" a small redheaded girl yelled excitedly, jumping in place.

Haru laughed, and threw the girl over her head in the same manner she had done with Rosie.

After that, the lesson more or less dissolved into excited little girls lining up to back flip over Haru's head. The bigger girls were a bit of a challenge for her, and wore her out faster than if she had only been tossing the six-year-olds.

"Okay, that's enough!" she finally gasped, sinking to the ground tiredly. "The next girl might fall to the floor if I pick her up."

There was a few scattered murmurs of complaint, but at least there wasn't an open rebellion.

"That was lots of fun, Haru-sama!" one of the smaller girls giggled while landing herself on the older girl's lap. "Can we do it again tomorrow?"

"That sounds like fun, but if we do this every day, then we'll never get any of the homework done. How about next Monday instead?" Haru countered with a tired smile, hugging the little girl happily.

"But that's so far away!" another girl pouted as Baron stopped playing.

He walked over, and gently picked Haru up like a tired child. "But if you ask her to do this every day, then she won't last until next Monday," he said with a roguish wink. "We _do _want Haru to last for a long time, don't we?"

"Yes, Baron-sama," two of the older girls pouted in unison, and started ushering the smaller girls out of the practice room.

Baron chose to give them a bit more time, carrying his brunette over to the piano bench and sitting her gently on his lap. _'She's not __**my **__brunette! Well, perhaps she will be, soon enough.'_

"Thanks for playing, Baron," Haru sighed, nuzzling one of his shoulders happily. "I had no idea you were a pianist."

"It's not something I have the opportunity to do every day," he admitted, _loving _her comfortable weight on his lap. _'Why didn't I think to ask Lune for this amulet a year ago? All those opportunities I've missed out on… Stop thinking like that!' _he scolded himself sharply.

Haru sighed happily while squeezing his chest. "Dang it, I missed you like crazy, Baron."

He smiled warmly, and hugged her a little tighter. "I missed you too, Haru. If I had known how boring life was going to turn out to be after you left, I would have stolen away in one of your bags."

She giggled, and closed her eyes in contentment. "I wouldn't have minded that at all."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, as Baron struggled with his emotions. He _did _accept- well, snatch- the amulet without thinking, and deep down, he really did want to tell Haru the truth about his feelings.

But being with her, all alone in a room that almost rivaled the Cat Kingdom's banquet hall in size, he realized there was another opportunity open. And he had no intention of letting _this _one go by.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked softly.

"Mm, hmm," Haru murmured while nodding her head.

He smiled widely, and very gently pushed her off his lap. "Good. You and I have a little unfinished business from last year."

Her gorgeous brown eyes became wide and defenseless as he took her by the hand, and led her a small distance from the piano. "We do?" she squeaked almost inaudibly.

"Of course," he replied easily, turning around in order to look at her warmly. "We never did get to finish our waltz, did we?"

Haru stared at him, a wild smile crossing her features. "Now that you mention it, we didn't!"

"I suppose there's only one left thing to do about it," Baron sighed in mock regret, holding her a little closer by the waist with one hand. He held her right hand with his other one, and promptly swept the girl off her feet.

Beaming, Haru leaned into his touch, following his lead as he twirled her around expertly. They needed no music for something as simple as this.

"I apologize; I can't dance ballet," Baron admitted while avoiding her gaze.

Haru had to laugh at him as he held her in a low dip. "Baron, do you think I ever cared if you could or not? I can teach you if you want, but it doesn't bother me at all that you can't. Besides, I think you waltz like an angel."

A relieved smile crossed his lips as he picked her up by the waist, and threw her in a full circle before setting her down again. "Thank you, Haru."

He didn't say anything more for several minutes, but he held her a little closer in his arms. She sighed happily, her heart fluttering happily like a butterfly.

She didn't need any more than this. She and Baron could dance for the rest of eternity, and she would be perfectly content with just that.

"Haru…" he managed to say after a few more minutes. "I know… I should have mentioned this before, but I-"

The large doors banged open, making both of them look over in surprise.

"Ha-ru!" Rue sang out, but then stopped short. She stared at them, intimately wrapped in each other's arms.

A full minute passed as they stared at each other; Haru's face steadily changing to a dark red color.

"Should… I come back later?" the princess asked with an embarrassed blush.

"That would be greatly appreciated," Baron said through gritted teeth, a fixed smile on his face.

"Okay… I'll be waiting out here when you're done," Rue offered apologetically, dragging one door shut at a time so that they would be left alone once more.

"Every time," Baron muttered in an irritated manner under his breath.

"Every time what?" Haru asked curiously.

He shook his head angrily. "I've been trying to get up the courage to tell you something ever since I arrived in Kinkan Town, but every time I try, something happens to distract us!"

"Is it important?"

"I'd say so. I was trying to spare you anguish, but…"

"What is it?" she asked worriedly, grabbing two fistfuls of his suit jacket so that he couldn't escape by accident.

He took a deep breath. "Haru-"

A significant-sized rock slammed against the window, shattering one of the panels beyond repair.

"There it goes again!" he snapped in frustration.

"Tell me quickly!" she demanded, curiosity clawing at her conscience like a frustrated kitten.

"All right. Haru, I-"

The doors slammed open again.

"What is going on in here?!" Neko-sensei yelled at the top of his lungs, even as a steamed Rue pulled desperately on the back of his green sweater, trying to drag him back out of the room.

"Will you just leave them alone, already!" she ordered him, but to no avail.

"That does it," Baron muttered under his breath, finally losing his patience. He fiercely held Haru closer to him by the waist with one hand, until their bodies were firmly pressed against each other.

She looked up at him with shock, but he wasn't about to bother with words again. Holding the other hand to the back of her neck, he tilted her head back enough to quickly press his lips against hers, even as rocks fell against the breaking windows like a hailstorm.

Neko-sensei's shrieks turned into disbelieving squeaks, but Baron no longer cared who was watching, or why. It was all his willpower could handle, to keep his lips on Haru's, and his eyes on hers.

She stared at him disbelievingly, her breath sharp and shallow. Her small chest heaved unsteadily against his, making his heart sink low into his feet.

Was this the wrong thing to do, after all?

He made a reluctant step backward to break off the kiss, but then Haru's arms whipped around his neck, almost too fast to be seen. Tears of absolute joy fell from her eyes as she closed them, and pressed her lips fervently against his. She even rose to en pointe so that he wouldn't have to lean over as much.

Relieved beyond words, he deepened the kiss, savoring each second of complete bliss.

ooOoo

"**NO**!" Drosselmeyer screamed at the top of his lungs, but the forgotten princess could not hear him.

With how seriously they were kissing, it was possible that they might not have heard him, even if he was in the same room as them.

The worst of it was the look on the other cat's face. First there was shock, and then horror. Slowly, oh so slowly, all hope was drained from his face.

"I've lost her," he whispered in a terrible voice.

The princess broke off staring at her sister long enough to look at her old sensei compassionately. "I'm sorry to say this, Neko-sensei, but she was lost long before she came back to the island. She _did _try to warn you, remember?"

He couldn't say anything. Slowly, he turned, and began running down the hallway on all fours. Tears streamed down his face and onto the polished floor tiles, in an almost continuous flood of sorrow.

"No, go back, you fool!" Drosselmeyer screamed at the feline, but alas, _he _couldn't hear him either. "You're supposed to _fight _for her! She's _yours_, remember?! Go back!"

Uzura, on the other hand, was smiling happily. "Ice princess find love-love-zura!" she proclaimed while beating her little drum.

"But she's not _supposed _to find love, remember?!" Drosselmeyer screamed at her before pacing in front of the giant looking glass angrily. "It defeats the purpose of her existence! This completely ruins the moral of her story! How am I going to fix this?" he muttered angrily under his breath.

"Why not let Ice Princess keep her happy ending this time, zura?" the little puppet asked curiously.

"I did not have her dragged all this way for a happy ending, Uzura! I brought her here to find everything she's been longing for, lose it, and then die in sorrow!"

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Of course," he whispered ecstatically. "Why didn't I think of this earlier? It will cause her _far _more pain to finally find love, and then for it to be taken away. I can still make this work. I just need to make a few… adjustments."

He fixed another window to look at the other cat, who was just walking up to the window as his minions fearfully tried to keep him away from it. "I'm going to grant your wish, Wally," he gloated as the brown cat beat his thugs away, and got a good look through the window. "Since your cousin fled, _you're _going to get the princess this time, just like you had always dreamed of. Let's hope that _you _don't disappoint me."

Just as Wally realized what the two were doing, Haru and Baron broke off their kiss.

She laid her head on his chest, a wild smile plastered over her face. "_Wow_, Baron! You've got a way with words!"

He smiled lovingly at her, and stole another kiss. "Only if you say so, love."

Uzura looked on, her expression less vacant than usual as she tapped her drum thoughtfully. _'Is his vision really how her story should end, zura?'_


	24. Happiness

**Twenty Four: Happiness**

Haru couldn't let go of Baron, barely able to make herself believe what had just happened. She'd had dreams that went something like that, but the reality of his kiss just blew her dreams completely out of the water.

She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder happily. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Well, for starters, I only come up to your knee at my regular height," he answered dryly, squeezing her just a little tighter. "There's also the fact that we're different species, we have completely different life spans, and I can't give you what you deserve."

She looked at him in annoyance, and kissed his lips again. "You make me happy, Baron. That's more than any other guy has ever given me, and that's all I really ever wanted. I'm not greedy; I just want you."

On the other hand, could she get any greedier than that?

He smiled, and kissed her cheek, close to her ear. "What about the fact… that I can't give you children?" he whispered slowly.

She didn't even hesitate. "We can try adoption when we're ready for that step. I've endured life without you already, and I don't ever want to go back to it. I love you, Baron."

Tears of relief spilled down his cheeks as he kissed her again. "I love you too, Haru."

Those _words_! She had waited so long to hear them! Her heart, which had felt tight for so long, had finally loosened comfortably in her chest; a blissful, wonderful feeling!

She wiped a few tears of happiness from her eyes, and beamed at her sister. "I think we're done for now, Rue. What was it that you wanted to say earlier?"

Her big sister beamed at her happily. "I'll tell you later. I'm so happy for you, Haru!" she nearly squealed, attaching herself to the side of her sister that wasn't pressed to Baron.

"Thanks," Haru giggled, wrapping one arm around her big sister's shoulders, since her other arm was not about to surrender Baron so easily. _'I can't believe it. I have my family, I have Baron's love… yes, I have everything I have ever wanted!_

'_Well, nearly everything. But I'm not going to waste any more thoughts for my father. I'm done with him.'_

ooOoo

Wally stared disbelievingly as _his _princess walked out of the room, her sister on one side and her chosen on the other side. She leaned comfortably against his side, completely oblivious to the fact that Wally had ever been around.

As usual.

After the trio left the room, he continued to stare through the window, as still as a statue.

"Boss?" Chula asked worriedly.

"Leave me," he said in a low deceptive tone. "_Now_."

Knowing that tone, they immediately ran away, melting into the bushes and surrounding foliage.

He waited until he heard all of them leave the area before falling against the window. "Why?" he whispered hoarsely. "Why couldn't that have been me?! I could give her all the children she could ever want!"

He slammed his paws against the windowpane until two more panels of glass shattered. Then he turned away from the room, fighting back a sob.

"_I _love you, Haru," he whispered softly. "I've loved you since before you were born."

What was left now? His little plan wouldn't work now, that was for sure. He couldn't even sneak another note into her room like he could before the immortal thief came, although he couldn't understand why.

What if he convinced some witch to make a forgetful potion? No, those only worked half the time, and someone could find out and tell her the truth…

He began pacing the little avenue between the bushes and the broken glass, thinking over his options. _'Auntie might know how to fix this, but she's always supported her son, when it comes to the ice princess. Who do I have left to turn to?'_

His head snapped up, his green eyes growing wide. "Drosselmeyer," he whispered, looking up to the perfectly blue sky. Hope began to grow within his chest, and he made the call again. "Drosselmeyer! Return to Kinkan Town, and give me your aid!"

A shadowy laugh echoed through the area to him, and a falling leaf froze in the air to the left of Wally. The world seemed to change color slightly, making him realize that he was now outside of time.

"It's about time someone called for me," the voice chuckled as a shadow solidified next to the cat, to form an old man, dressed in a crazy riot of colors, like an old gypsy.

Wally took a deep breath for courage, polishing his monocle on a cream-colored handkerchief. "Mr. Drosselmeyer, I know you intended for my cousin to wed Princess Kokoro, but-"

"Say no more," the man cackled, removing the cat's red top hat. He patted Wally's head happily, and set the hat back where it belonged. "I've decided to give your cousin's role to you."

He looked up at the ghost with shock. "But… she just barely chose an immortal to be her love."

"Yes, she wasn't supposed to do that," Drosselmeyer grumbled angrily. "But don't worry, my boy. There's still a way for you to win my favorite princess."

"There is?! How?" Wally asked eagerly.

"Listen carefully, because I can't stay for long. Just after sunset tomorrow, she's going to be all alone, and that will be your only chance to take her from the immortal. Here's what you need to do…"

ooOoo

Haru was still in an incredibly good mood by the time night rolled around, and Baron had taken up his nocturnal post at her windowsill.

She pirouetted around her bed once before landing across it, a wild smile plastered over her lips as a giggle escaped her throat.

Muta smirked at her. "It's about time he told ya the truth, Chicky. I was getting kinda sick of watching you two mope around when ya didn't need to."

Haru grinned at him, and moved around the bed enough to kiss the fatso on the head. "Better late than never, that's all I have to say on the subject."

"That's it?!" he demanded, sounding a little disappointed.

"Well, there's 'good night', too," she giggled, snuggling underneath her quilt after turning down the lights.

She fell asleep with tears in her eyes, but for once, they were not of sorrow.

ooOoo

… _Please, your highness! Get your wife's sister off the island while there is still time!_

Mytho looked up from the anonymous note, and sighed tiredly. _'Is this person ever going to stop sending me these notes? Oh, I wish I __**could **__send her away without hurting Rue.'_ He stared out his balcony, towards the Academy. One hand held the shirt fabric just over his heart, which was still beating fearfully.

But… why? He had seen for himself that there was nothing to fear his sister-in-law for, as long as he treated his wife well. Not that he truly needed the extra incentive when it came to his beloved.

So why couldn't he get over his terror? Why couldn't she get over her intense dislike of him? More to the point, why was someone else scared enough of her to keep sending all these notes, begging him to get rid of her?

Without warning, Rue burst into the room, walking across it in order to throw her arms around his neck, and kiss him soundly. "You won't _believe _what happened today, Mytho!" she exclaimed happily.

"Haru loved the news you gave her?" he asked with a small smile.

"Oh no, I didn't tell her yet. I didn't want to take the thunder away from what Baron did."

"Oh? What did he do?"

"He admitted that he loves her, but he said it in such a way that she's probably going to be walking on clouds for the next month!"

Mytho jerked around in surprise. "But… he's a cat."

Rue rolled her eyes at him. "Considering the fact that we thought I was a reborn raven and Ahiru was born a duck, I don't think any of us have any room to talk. Besides, you should have _seen _the look on her face! Frankly; I don't care what Baron is, as long as he can make her smile like that every day."

He sighed, and looked out into the night again. "As you wish, love. Did you remember to ask her about the other thing?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. It turns out that she, Ahiru, and myself, all have the same birthday, which is the day after tomorrow. Isn't that a strange coincidence?"

He looked at her sharply, the revelation ringing a terrifying bell in his soul, although he didn't recognize the melody. "Is she certain?" he asked with surprising fervor.

"Yes. Mother was very firm in telling her that we're all exactly a year apart. But…" Rue hesitated.

"Yes?" her husband asked, grabbing her gently by the shoulders.

She sighed. "This is going to sound a little strange, but when I asked about our birthday, she became very serious, maybe even scared. She made me promise to be extra careful on our birthday, and to make sure nothing happened to Ahiru. You would have thought that she was a fortune-teller or a seer, with how scared she looked."

Mytho bit his lip nervously. Although he was terrified of Haru, he knew she wouldn't take chances with her sisters.

She _knew_ something, and he wanted to know what it was.

"It certainly couldn't hurt to take a few precautions, even if it's just to ease her mind," Mytho said firmly after a few minutes of thought.

Rue nodded, kissing him almost absently. "I bet we could give her the day off school, and throw a small party for all of us! I'll tell her the good news then!"

"It will certainly be a gift to remember, love," he murmured, one hand moving across her waist to caress her lower abdomen, which had not yet begun to swell.

While his bride was still distracted, the prince shoved the note under the bench cushion he was sitting on.

He couldn't take his wife's sister away, now of all times. Perhaps he would think of a way later.

ooOoo

_She finished the last row of stitches, and held up the fruit of her labors to the sunlight to inspect it. _

_It was a lacy white blanket, just the right size to hold the baby, when it finally decided to come. She set the blanket over what was left of her lap, and caressed her swollen belly lovingly. Her child responded by kicking wherever she placed her hand; a favorite game for both of them. She giggled, and looked up from the garden she was resting in. She was always tired, nowadays. She hardly even had the energy to dance, anymore. Her unborn child didn't much care for the activity at the present._

_Winter was beginning to end, the snow slowly melting away. But the sun was warm, and she enjoyed every minute spent outside of the stuffy castle._

_Her husband had ordered her to go out and get some fresh air, but for once, he was busy with something inside. No, that had been happening more and more often, but she blamed her father's ailing health for that. The doctors predicted that he would live to see her child born, but would be gone before the child was a year old._

_Her heart heaved painfully under her dress. She pressed one hand over it, and sighed. She had done everything her father had ever asked of her, and still he refused to call her by name. Surely he would do so before dying, just once._

_Wouldn't he? _

_Of course he would. He was her father, wasn't he?_

"_Good morrow, your highness."_

_She gasped softly in surprise, and looked around frantically for the unfamiliar voice. "Show thyself!" she commanded._

"_I am at thy side, Princess."_

_She looked to her left, seeing a neat brown cat. Her instincts immediately stiffened up, and she tried to stand, but it was difficult with her child in the way. "Guards!" she cried desperately, just before remembering that she had ordered the guards to leave a good half hour before, so she could be alone._

_She now regretted giving that order._

"_Please, your highness," he implored, his green eyes grave. "I have come to warn thee against a terrible peril."_

_She quirked an eyebrow, since she had been raised not to believe a single word any cat spoke. "And why should I give thee ear, when thou art a stranger unto me?"_

_The brown cat sighed sadly. "Because I have news of thy husband's past that should have been made known unto thee long before. He hath played thee false, your highness. He is not whom he hath told you he was."_

"_How darest thou?!" she demanded, finally able to stand up so that she could tower over the strange feline. "Mine husband hath been an angel unto me in my sorrow! Get thee hence!"_

_He stood on his hind legs on the stone bench, and bowed apologetically to her. "I cannot leave thee in sound mind unless I tell all. Thine husband is not even a true human!"_

"_Then how is it that he looks like a human, and has manners that are the same?" she asked in a coldly skeptic manner._

_The cat looked at her gravely. "If thou wilt but return into the castle, and go to the place that your husband calls his study, you will understand. Listen at the door, but do not make thyself known unto him until the one he is speaking to leaves. Then will all be made known unto thee." He bowed to her once more, and hopped off the bench. "Let it be known that I hold thee in the highest regard, but if he is truly thy husband, why doth he still withhold his past from thee?"_

_She watched him disappear into the bushes, her heart turning cold again. __**'How would that feline know that which not even mine handmaidens know?' **__She looked up to the castle, biting her lip nervously._

_Should she follow his advice? What if it was affairs of state, and her father scolded her for listening as a spy would?_

_But then again… she had asked her husband many times to tell her of his past. He usually made some vague remarks about growing up in the countryside, but he never did give her more details than that._

'_**I pray that I will not regret doing this,'**__ she thought to herself as she threw the completed blanket over one arm, and walked into her family's castle._

_The servants all bowed as she approached, and she nodded politely at them, but didn't truly notice they who labored for her father._

_After several minutes, she came to the narrow staircase, using her ballet training to ensure that no one would be warned of her approach. As instructed, she paused in front of the door, and gently pressed her ear to the smoothly polished wood._

"… _but I __**do **__love her, Mother!"_

"_Then why dost thou stare so at all the servant girls, unless she is with thee?"_

_Her heart froze in her chest, having never met her mother-in-law._

"_I cannot help it, Mother. They are all so fair."_

"_Thou didst also have this problem in thy natural form," she noted clinically. "I had so hoped that the change would encourage thee to be faithful."_

"_I __**am **__faithful!" her husband yelled indignantly. "I may have looked at other girls, but I have not dishonored my wife in word or deed!"_

_A rather cynical chuckle followed his remark. "So tell me, have you earned her love yet?"_

_The princess looked down at her feet in shame._

"_I __**try**__, Mother. She thinks kindly of me, isn't that enough to satisfy thee?"_

"_Nay, my son. Thou didst agree to this when thou first entreated me to change thee into a human for her sake. Unless thou wins her love and her father's crown, thy child will be given unto myself to raise alone."_

_The princess's entire body became frosted with an icy fear. __**'No!'**_

"_Please, Mother; I haven't told her that I'm a cat in truth."_

"_Then perhaps thou should, before the child is born. She has grown up knowing that no mortal __**human**__ would ever desire her, she'll understand."_

"_That's not what worries me, Mother. What if she finds out that I am __**thy **__son?!" her husband demanded fearfully._

"_Perhaps thou should have considered this thing before forsaking thy natural shape. I shall return on the morrow, my son. Try a little harder to win her heart. If she is stripped of even her child, she may die of grief."_

_As a strange tinkling sound was heard, the princess understood completely. It was one thing to originally be a feline. If that were all, perhaps she could have adjusted to it._

_But for her husband to be so worried over someone discovering his feline mother's identity could only mean one thing._

_As soon as the tinkling sound was gone, certainly a transportation spell, she threw open the door to her husband's study._

_He knocked over several books in his surprise. "Darling!" he nearly shouted, his face still fearful, though turning a little angry. "I have not yet come for thee! For what purpose didst thou return prematurely?!"_

"_Thou?" she asked in a calm voice that nearly drew icicles in the air. "__**Thou **__art the son of the witch that did curse mine father's offspring?"_


	25. Horror

**Chapter Twenty Five: Horror**

Haru shot up in bed with wide eyes. Her mouth moved several times, but no sound came out. Her hands had a white-knuckled grip on her quilt, and her heart was pounding out of control. _'… No!'_

Baron shifted out of his wooden form to look over at her curiously. "Another nightmare, love?"

Numbly, she nodded.

Looking a little worried, he hopped off the windowsill, and pressed his amulet again to make him grow. "So tell me; what's the latest horror that's been visited on you?"

"… you're never going to believe this," she whispered, her eyes still wide with unthinking terror.

"You'd be surprised at the things I can believe, Haru. Come now; I'm certain that I can handle whatever it is that you dreamed about," he coaxed, sitting next to her bed so that he could take her hands in his own.

She took a deep breath. "You… know how I mentioned yesterday that I was married in the nightmares?"

Baron nodded.

"It was… Neko-sensei," she gagged, hopping out of her bed in order to run for the bathroom, since she didn't want to throw up all over her new boyfriend. She choked and breathed heavily into the toilet seat, but nothing ever came out. "I was married to _Neko-sensei_!" _'And I was carrying his child! I think I'm going to be sick!'_

Baron swiftly wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and drew her in for a slightly painful embrace. "Please say this is a misguided attempt to make me laugh."

She shook her head, turning around so that she could wrap her arms around his neck again. "I can't believe I didn't see it when he first showed up as a human. It was so _obvious_!"

He kissed her trembling lips caressingly. "Try to remember that it was only a nightmare, Haru."

Her whole body began to tremble. "I don't know, Baron," she whispered painfully. "I thought that was it at first, but… everything's so _vivid_ when I dream like that. What does it mean?"

Baron sighed, and held her closer. "I'm not quite sure, love. Your sisters' nightmare about you was easily a warning, but this… I can't tell if this is a warning as well."

Haru rubbed her cheek against the inviting softness of his suit jacket. "Well, Neko-sensei had better not try to make those dreams reality, that's all I have to say about it."

"_**Amen**_ to that," he growled angrily before kissing her hair again.

She wondered if she should bring up her witch of a mother-in-law, but decided against it. Even _she _didn't know what to make of that. _'Curse? No mortal human? Why does that sound like what Wally was trying to say?' _

"Baron?" she suddenly asked, realizing something. "Where's Muta?"

"Shh, don't you fret," he said warmly, kissing her cheek. "He left again before you awoke. He says he found a lead on why your father died."

Haru's head snapped upward like a slingshot. "He did?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Yes, and he's rather anxious to find out who was responsible for it. As am I," he added in a low growl.

Haru giggled, even as she silenced the small voice within her.

That voice was whispering, _'Should I be grateful, if someone __**did**__ kill him?'_

ooOoo

Baron held her arm tightly for support, and whispered softly into her ear as they walked to the doors of the practice room. "Don't worry, love. I'll protect you from him if he tries anything."

Haru smiled wanly at him, and kissed his cheek as they both opened one of the doors. She braced herself for another embarrassing scene, but then stared in confusion as Baron did the same.

Neko-sensei wasn't anywhere in the room.

Instead, Paulamoni was looking out the large windows. Many of the panes were still broken from the day before, but as least the glass shards had been safely swept away. The empty spaces in the windows were covered with white paper to keep out drafts, making the practice room several shades darker than it usually was.

Baron grinned wickedly, remembering that the woman thought that he was only a doll. He loosened Haru's arm from his own, and gestured for her to speak first.

She grinned back at him, and stealthily approached the expectant woman. "Good morning, Paulamoni-sensei."

"Good morning, dear," she said a little dreamily, staring out one of the panes that wasn't broken. "Neko-sensei called in sick today, so I volunteered to take over his sessions with the students today. It only seemed fair, since he covered for me yesterday."

Haru breathed a loud sigh of relief, and touched the woman's shoulder gently. "I have some good news for you. Do you remember the gentleman I told you about back in Japan?"

The older woman looked at her curiously. "How can I? I didn't meet him, remember?"

"Actually, you did," Haru giggled, turning Paulamoni's shoulders enough so that she could look at the being behind her. "You remember Baron, don't you?"

Paulamoni casually looked over… and her jaw dropped.

Baron smiled warmly at her, and set his top hat over his heart in respect. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Madam. I trust you've been well?"

Paulamoni stared at him incredulously, both of her hands over her heart. Her mouth flapped open and closed several times before her red-brown eyes trailed to Haru, who was grinning wickedly.

"Just think, Sensei; you can't even get angry at me, because _you _hid the fact that you already knew about me and the Cat Kingdom until after you had me safely on the island."

Her mouth flapped open and shut a few more times, and she was clearly trying to get angry.

But she failed.

Sighing, she walked over to the Cat Creation, and bowed politely. "A pleasure to meet you, Baron. Can you dance ballet?"

Haru suddenly got a _very _vivid mental image of her feline beau in tights. Her face turned magenta, and her mouth was slightly open in appreciation. _'Oh, hot dang!'_

Baron caught her look over Paulamoni's shoulder. He also blushed, although his reaction was more concealed than hers, thanks to his fur. "No, but Haru has offered to teach me, should the opportunity arise," he managed to answer, smiling warmly at the girl in question.

The older woman beamed at him. "Perfect! Haru-chan, didn't you say back in Japan that you wanted to teach ballet?"

The brunette nodded, shaking out that tantalizing image of her boyfriend.

"Excellent. For today, I want to see how you're planning to teach Baron how to dance ballet."

Haru and Baron looked at each other sharply, a blush still on their faces.

"Um, okay," Haru said a little shyly.

"I don't have the right shoes," Baron replied softly, looking down at the pair that had been on his feet since the day he was first given life.

"That's all right," the older woman said with a giggle. "I'll go find a pair for you. Oh, and Haru? Is it all right if I use you as a demonstration for the other classes today? My little passenger here doesn't care much for ballet at this stage." She rubbed her swollen belly with one hand.

Haru nodded, one hand rubbing her shoulder. She really wanted to rub just over her heart, since it was feeling strangely tight today. But she didn't want to worry Baron or her sensei, so she tried to ignore it.

ooOoo

Baron stood on the sidelines of the classroom a few hours later, calmly watching Haru dance for the class just below her. He didn't really notice or care how the other students reacted to him, but he would occasionally gesture with one hand to Haru when they stared at him for too long.

His personal lesson had gone rather well, or so Haru and Paulamoni said. He was just grateful that no one had asked him to wear tights as well. Even if Haru would have been appreciative-

'_Stop that,' _he mentally scolded himself, even though he was currently appreciating his brunette in the same attire. He sighed, and watched her do that complicated back flip again.

Her eyes had fluttered a few times, but she had managed to keep them open. Her large brown orbs seemed a little glazed over as she twirled around with ease, just like a child's toy ballerina. It was like she was thinking rather seriously about something, and there was a slight sheen of sweat on her brow, but that could only be normal.

Right?

'_Haru… you've been unusually quiet for a while now. Is there something bothering you about the dreams still? Or is it your father you're thinking of?'_

Baron knew almost nothing of that man, or why someone would kill him and then cover up as many traces of his existence as possible. That he was willing to die for his daughters, Baron could understand, but there was something… off, about the way Haru reacted whenever her father was brought up. She had no problem with talking about her mother, even after her death, so why was her father such a-

Without warning, Haru convulsed violently in the middle of a pirouette. There was a cry of pain on her lips as she fell to the ground, both hands clutching the front of her red uniform, almost like claws.

"Haru!" Baron yelled in a panic, rushing around the horrified girls crowding around her in order to check her pulse.

It was weak, as was her breathing. He felt her temple, shocked at how cold her skin was.

Baron had once heard that the only thing worse than knowing what a terrible thing was, was notknowing. But for the first time, he was forced to disagree with the idea.

He knew _exactly_ what was wrong, and he wished more than anything that he didn't know these symptoms.

"No," he whispered harshly, sweeping the girl into his arms as gently as handling a porcelain doll. "Where's a doctor?!" he demanded of Paulamoni, who looked guiltily terrified.

"The nurse's office is down the hall on the right-"

"We'll need someone more experienced than that," Baron said in a low serious tone, nearly running out of the room with an unconscious Haru in his arms.

"Baron!" a familiar voice called out from over his head. "I've got some bad-"

The Cat Creation looked up with relief, and cut his old friend off. "Toto, go to the castle now! Tell Rue that Haru's sick, and needs help!"

The crow looked at him with horror. "How sick?"

Baron looked down at the girl, and kissed her frozen brow gently. "I think she's inherited what killed her mother, and she's been dancing hard for the past week. _Please_, my friend. I don't know how much more time she has."


	26. Remorse

**Chapter Twenty Six: Remorse**

_She screamed one more time, and pushed as hard as she could. The ice spirit she had summoned to help with the birthing caught the baby emotionlessly, and wiped it clean with some water that had been warming nearby, in the cave that was sheltering them from the blizzard outside. It was late in the year for snow, and if she had died earlier, there would probably be fresh grass outside._

_She used the needed time to regain her breath, glad that the ordeal was finally nearing its end. "Give my child unto me," she commanded in a weak voice._

_The ice spirit did as it was ordered, after wrapping the child up in a warm bit of white fur._

_The royal looked at her child almost clinically. She opened up the blanket to see that her baby was a beautiful human girl. She gave a sigh of relief, and allowed her baby to nurse, for the first and final time. _

"_Thou hast served me well," she congratulated the ice spirit. "I will release thee before the day is out for thy excellent service."_

_The spirit bowed thankfully, and sat in the corner to await further instructions. _

_As her child nursed, she felt the compulsion to explain what she was about to do to her child, despite the fact that she would not remember anything her mother said. _

"_Let it be known that this was not a design of my choosing," she informed her daughter, holding her close. "If it were up to me, I would gladly keep thee and raise thee with all the real love that hath always been denied unto myself. But alas, there are so many that would take thee from me, for what I have done, and for that which __**thou **__art capable of, once thou dost reach maturity and receive the proper instruction. And even if there were none that would steal thee from me, my fate is sealed; I will die today."_

_At that, she began to cry, holding her child close to her._

_Her baby began to cry as well, almost like she understood. _

"_I love thee, my daughter," she wept. "But to keep thee safe, thou must not ever know that __**I **__am thy mother. After all I have endured to bring thee into this world, it is my hope that thou wilt have a good life after I leave thee. I'm so sorry, my dearest daughter…"_

"No," Haru moaned as she slowly worked her way back to consciousness. Tears streamed from her eyes as she tossed around slightly under what felt like a mountain of thick blankets. "No!"

"Haru, wake up," Baron's voice called to her, his warm touch caressing her cold face.

She gasped with horror, quickly sitting up from the bed that she had been resting on. One of her hands clutched over her heart. It felt so tight; it was nearly a miracle that it was beating at all.

Baron had caught her with his arms, and held her in a tight embrace. "Please, love; just take it easy for a while. It was just a dream."

"More like a nightmare," she sobbed, clinging to him fearfully. "Why can't I just get some decent sleep for once?"

He crooned softly, and stroked her hair while inhaling the scent lingeringly. "What was it this time?" _'She's never been __**this **__upset before.'_

She choked back another sob. "I… I was giving birth, in a cave with no one but an ice spirit for help. After my daughter was born, I started talking about having to give her up, because there were people after her, and I was going to die." _'Why am I still so cold?'_

"What? Giving birth?" Rue demanded, grabbing one of her hands as it rested on Baron's broad shoulders.

Haru sniffed, weakly accepting a handkerchief from Ahiru as she flew from an elegant wooden vanity and onto the bed she was resting on. She looked around the room in confusion, stiffening as her eyes briefly met Mytho's, who flinched as well. Fakir was there as well, but there was also an older man next to the bed, one that she didn't recognize.

Come to think of it, she had never been in a room like this before. Her dorm room at the Academy was almost fit for royalty; this one really was fit for it, and nearly the size of her whole house back in Japan. And she was now in a long plain nightgown of softest white. What happened to her prima red?

Why could she already see the sun setting through the large windows? Wasn't it only noon when she blacked out?

"Um," she said shakily while mopping her face with the handkerchief. "Where are we? What's going on?"

Baron's arms became stiff around her torso, and his breath turned hot and heavy on her neck.

Rue bit her lip, her eyes tearing up as well. "We're at the castle, Haru… do you remember telling me and Ahiru how Mother died?"

"Yes…" she replied slowly, her eyes trailing back to the unknown man, who was adjusting his glasses slightly.

"Haru-sama, my name is Doctor Hani. I have the sad duty to inform you that your body suffers from a genetic heart disorder. In order to prolong your life-"

"I need to have a diet with little to no meat, drink plenty of water, and avoid any and all kinds of strenuous activity," Haru said numbly, her eyes growing wide with shock.

Or was it shock? She should have recognized the symptoms long before now. Why didn't she ever stop and think about why her heart was always hurting, even when she was happy?

The doctor relaxed slightly, probably because she wasn't throwing a fit. "You are familiar with the procedure then?"

"Intimately," Haru sadly replied, lowering her head so that she could rest it on Baron's comfortable shoulder.

"… I see. Shall I acquire the necessary medication for your sister, highness?" he asked Rue respectfully.

"Yes, please," she replied gratefully, bowing to the old man. "And thanks again for coming so quickly."

The doctor bowed back to her and her husband before excusing himself out the door.

"You don't seem all that shocked, Haru," Toto said in a low accusatory tone, from his perch on one of the bed's tall banisters.

She managed a weak smile at him while keeping her arms around Baron's shoulders. "I always knew it was a possibility, so I'm used to the idea. Rue, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to drop out of the Academy. Maybe I can make quilts like Mom instead," she mused, although it felt like her heart was breaking again.

'_It doesn't matter. My sisters and Baron are more important than dancing, anyway.'_

Rue nodded, and sat next to Baron on the bed. "Hey, it's my turn," she said crossly, poking his back with one finger.

Baron managed a somewhat stiff chuckle as he pried himself from his brunette. Ahiru waddled onto Haru's lap so that she could share in the hug between her big sisters.

"Everything will be just fine," she whispered to them softly. "If I go cold turkey right now, I might have a good twenty years left."

"That's not good enough," Rue replied savagely. "For crying out loud, Haru, we just found each other last week! I want more than a mere two decades or less with you!"

"You're not the only one," Baron said tightly, unable to keep his eyes off the girl as she blushed and smiled with pleasure.

"Thanks, guys. I really do appreciate that. Hey, Toto! Did you find anything interesting in the Bird Kingdom?"

He flinched. "A couple things, but surely they can wait."

"Ahiru's been waiting long enough, and so has Fakir," she retorted as Fakir flinched, but then nodded affirmingly.

Toto sighed, and bowed apologetically to the small duck on Haru's lap. "I'm sorry, Ahiru, but the only amulet in the Bird Kingdom that could work for your unique problem is worn by King Valcor himself at all times. About all I could glean on using magic to change one's species was an old story that may or may not have really happened."

"Please favor us with it," Mytho asked politely, keeping his eyes firmly on the large crow so that he could avoid Haru's eyes as much as possible. "Even a slim lead is better than no lead."

"True, but I doubt this story will help very much," Toto grumbled. "You've heard of the Fae folk, haven't you?"

Mytho's heart gave a sudden lurch, but he couldn't say anything.

Baron gave him a curious look, but looked at Toto again. "According to legend, they became the ancestors of all the kingdoms on the planet, including the Plant Kingdom. Of course, the only reason they did this was because their own race was dying out, thanks to some mysterious plague that ate at their life force."

"That seems to be going around," Haru said dryly, one finger playing with Ahiru's rebellious head feather.

Toto gave her a reproachful look. "Well, after a few centuries, theoretically, one of the Fae's descendants from the Bird Kingdom fell in love with a human king, and used the diluted power she had inherited to change from a swan into a human to be his mate. They had three daughters-"

"Why is it always three?" Fakir grumbled with a rough laugh, looking pointedly at the sisters gathered on the bed.

"-But they all died young and sent the kingdom into turmoil. The swan queen died young as well, but the story didn't say how."

"Did the story mention how she did it?" Rue asked eagerly, but Toto shook his head.

"Just that she used the magic in her blood to make the change. The story was very old, and the stone it had been written on had a whole section of it broken off almost as soon as it was carved."

Baron's head snapped from Haru to Toto. "That would almost have to mean that there was something written on it that someone didn't want to be made general knowledge."

"I thought that, too. That piece could have been just about anything."

All of this sounded vaguely familiar to Mytho, who suddenly inhaled sharply.

"Honey?" Rue asked worriedly.

He managed a weak smile, and took another deep breath for courage. "Just… how devastated was that kingdom, Toto?"

"According to that slab, there was anarchy, since no one was left to govern the kingdom after the king died, and then there was some great terrible disaster involving tsunamis. Countless lives were lost."

"Tsunamis," he whispered, _almost _seeing a gigantic wave coming closer in his mind, threatening to swallow him whole.

Was it a dormant memory, or just his imagination?

Baron smiled thinly in triumph. "That's almost good news. If we can figure out which kingdom this happened in, we can start searching for that swan queen, and maybe find something more tangible to work with."

"To the library!" Haru announced enthusiastically, weakly throwing the thick blankets off her still-freezing body.

"Oh no you don't," Rue said firmly, gently pushing her sister back onto the bed while pulling the covers back over. "_You_, Little Sis, are going to stay right here and rest while we look this up."

"That's not fair!" she protested, but Ahiru pressed one wing over her lips so that she couldn't speak. The little duck nuzzled her sister's cheek a little before flying to her older sister's shoulder.

"I'm with your sisters on this one, love," Baron informed her while kissing her slightly sweaty forehead. "You need to rest; you gave us all quite a scare today, and we'd rather not go through that again for a _very _long time."

"Why is everyone ganging up on me?" Haru complained to Fakir with a pout.

"Because we like you," he answered with a grin, holding up his hands in a defensive gesture again. "Besides, we'll tell you what we find out later."

She glared at him angrily. "I want to help Ahiru too," she growled under her breath.

"You already did, Haru," Rue said softly, stealing one more hug from her and pressing her back into her pillow. "Just rest for now, okay?"

"Meanie," Haru retorted like a small child, jokingly sticking her tongue out at her big sister.

Rue just laughed, and started pushing the men out the door.

Baron slipped past the princess just after exchanging whispered words to the prince, and stole one more kiss from his brunette as everyone else cleared out. "Mytho's calling some guards right now to watch over you while we're gone," he whispered against her soft lips. "I've waited too many years to meet a girl like you to start taking chances."

Her heart melted and flowed through her body almost like a river, sending her body into shivers. "You'll come right back, won't you?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Always," he assured her, lovingly smiling that smile that always made her body turn into jelly. "I'll stay behind long enough to ensure that the guards come. I love you, Haru."

She wanted to tell him the same thing, but then he kissed her rather passionately before pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Remember that, Haru. I will always come for you, no matter what happens."

She beamed at him, and touched his hand one more time before he walked away from the bed. "I love you, Baron Humbert von Gikkingen."

"And I you, Yoshioka Haru," he replied, although he had already told her that. But for some reason, he felt the need to tell her that again, over and over.

Since he already knew the way to the library, he waited patiently by the door after closing it, his own heart aching like mad. _'Why did she have to inherit that disease? Her mortal life would have been short enough without it. Oh, Haru; I wish there was a way I could spend eternity with you.'_

Toto suddenly hopped onto his shoulder from a windowsill overhead. "So… you finally told her?"

Baron nodded; a content smile on his face. But then he sighed. "Tell me truly, Toto; did I do the wrong thing by telling her? Even with the amulet, there are still many barriers between us."

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you," Toto said softly, preening one of his wings. "If a human boy had sincere feelings for her, things would be different. Her sisters seem to like you, and something tells me that she wouldn't have forgotten about you, even if you had kept silent." He took a deep, nervous breath. "And as long as she's around, you might as well give her the happiness she's been longing for."

Baron looked at his oldest friend, and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Toto. That was all I needed to hear."

ooOoo

Haru beamed brightly again, since she could hear the two talking through the door. _'So… he's really been struggling all this time, because he thought I'd find some normal human boy to share my life with? Hmm, maybe I should tell him what Wally told me about my pheromones.' _Then she frowned, a little confused as she realized something. _'Wait. How come he couldn't already tell? If I could tell after being told, surely he could without being told.'_

She sighed, and turned onto one side to try resting. _'I'll ask him when he gets back. I can't believe I keep forgetting to ask him about it.'_

Just about then, she heard footsteps approach her door. Baron gave them rather pointed threats as to what would happen to them if anything happened to her, and to allow a large white cat in, if he needed to see her.

Haru closed her eyes, and brought Baron's face to the front of her mind. Perhaps if she thought about him just before drifting off again, his memory would be sufficient to protect her from whatever her dreams had coming next.

She had a terrible sinking feeling that she was about to run out of dreams. Would they leave her alone after that, or was something supposed to happen when they were done?

"Hello, my dear," a familiar voice whispered seductively from the other side of the large bed.

ooOoo

"You know, we really should have thought about coming here in the first place," Fakir grumbled under his breath as he opened the door for the royal couple to enter before him, making the little duck on his shoulder giggle.

"It's not like we have centuries' worth of knowledge in here," Mytho reminded him with a slightly sarcastic smile. "We've only been able to fill it with books for the past six months, thanks to all the construction."

"I wasn't referring to the books, Mytho. Have you forgotten that Autor is a walking, talking library by himself? That's why you gave him his position in the first place."

"Really? I thought it was because _you _recommended him," Mytho answered with a smile.

Fakir grinned back, and started looking between all the tall wooden bookcases, many of which were still sadly empty. "Autor? Are you in here?"

"Will you be quiet?" came the waspish reply, from high on a ladder. "Oh… sorry, Fakir, I didn't recognize you from up here."

The trio looked up as the sole librarian carefully worked his way down the ladder, leaving his books on the high shelf.

"Prince, Princess," Autor said formally while adjusting his glasses slightly. "To what do I owe this honor?"

"We need information on an old story that you may or may not have heard of," Rue said in a serious voice.

Autor suddenly looked nervous.

"Have you ever heard of a swan queen that married a human king?" Mytho asked. "It would have happened a few centuries ago, if that helps."

The librarian started nervously twitching, his pale face turning even paler. "Your… sister isn't around, is she?" he asked Rue worriedly, making the princess nod.

"She's resting in one of the rooms, since her health isn't very good right now. You know, she isn't really all that terrifying, Autor, and she's still miffed about the way you screamed at her unprovoked."

"What?" Fakir asked sharply, making Autor flinch yet again.

He coughed nervously, and adjusted his glasses. "Yes. I know the exact story you're after. I guess I should have been expecting you to come around and ask about it, since _she _showed up."

"Since who?" Baron asked curiously as he entered the library, closing the door behind him, Toto still perched on one shoulder.

"I think he means Haru," Rue informed him as Autor looked over, and stared shamelessly.

"Pray tell; why would Haru's appearance have anything to do with the story of the swan queen?" Baron asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he approached the librarian, who stepped back nervously.

"Look Autor; just tell us what you know about the story and we'll leave you alone," Fakir nearly growled, grabbing the librarian by one shoulder before he could bolt.

"W-What are you?" Autor whispered, still staring at Baron.

He cocked his head in amusement. "I'm a Creation, and so is Toto here. But that's not very critical right now; what will be is your health, if you don't start talking."

"Baron," Rue said reproachfully, but Autor stopped shaking long enough to adjust his large glasses again.

"All right, but remember not to shoot the messenger."

"Messenger?" Toto asked, making the young man jump again.

"Me," Autor explained after a few moments to regain his composure. "The story you requested makes Romeo and Juliet look like a happily ever after by comparison. It is one of the most depressing books ever written." He shrugged, and turned to a desk in the corner of the library, picking up a worn red book that had been sitting on his favorite chair.

"It shouldn't be surprising, since Drosselmeyer wrote it."


	27. Illumination

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Illumination**

"What?" Fakir screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbing Autor by the shoulders to shake him slightly. "I thought he only wrote The Prince and the Raven!"

"Don't shoot the messenger!" the librarian cried out, holding the thick book to his face to shield him from Fakir's gaze. "And you're wrong, he wrote this one first!"

A little stunned, Baron snatched the book out of his hands to read the cover. "The Three Princesses," he read out loud, getting a cold feeling in his stomach.

"Let go, already," Autor pleaded with Fakir, who reluctantly released him. He rubbed his shoulders sorely while regaining his breath.

"What is _this _story about, Fakir?" Rue asked, getting worried by the author's name.

Autor sighed. "It was written before The Prince and the Raven, but it's actually the same story from a different point of view. The only reason Drosselmeyer got started on the better-known-tale was because the critics despised _that _story, and made him change it around so that it focused on the prince instead."

"What was wrong with it?" Baron asked.

"They said he gave the main character too much grief, and that audiences wanted to know about the Prince, not the last princess to die. Drosselmeyer always regretted putting Princess Kokoro aside. He's mentioned in the pieces of his journal that I've recovered that she was always his favorite character."

Baron cocked his head in confusion while casually opening the book. Then his mouth dropped open, as he beheld the first illustration. "Oh dear," he whispered in horror.

"What is it?" Mytho asked curiously.

Wordlessly, Baron turned the book around so that the other three could see it.

Rue gasped as her husband's body turned into ice.

There were three princesses depicted in the illustration, standing together. The one to the left was clothed in a black that rivaled her thick curly hair, and there was a shadow of a mysterious black swan over her left shoulder. The one in the middle had slightly dark brown hair, and was in a silvery grey that matched the swan directly behind her. Her hands possessively gripped both the black-clad princess's, and with the red-haired princess on her right, who was wearing white. The white princess's remaining hand was curved upward to stroke her swan's neck in a loving gesture.

All three of the princesses, ranging in ages fourteen to twelve, were wearing matching golden crowns, and expressions of deep sadness.

"You…" Rue struggled to say, grabbing a fistful of Autor's shirt. "You… _knew _Ahiru was my little sister? That I _had _little sisters?"

"Only since last week when the last book shipment came in!" Autor pleaded, running behind his desk to protect himself. "I was going to say something about it, but then _that girl _showed up!"

Baron's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If I were you, I'd be more respectful to Haru, especially in _my _presence."

"And mine," Rue growled, stalking the librarian around the desk. "Tell us what happened in this story, right now!"

"All right!" he yelled, hopping onto another ladder so that he could be safe for a few minutes. "You already know that the king married a swan that changed herself into a human for his sake, but I doubt you knew of what happened on their wedding day."

"Will you please stop with the dramatics and tell us what happened?" Fakir demanded, shaking a fist at Autor.

"No kidding, let's move on with life, please," Toto added.

He sighed. "Well, while he was out riding to calm his nerves, the king accidentally rode his horse over a cat and killed it. That cat turned out to be the husband of a very powerful cat witch. She told the king off pretty hard for killing him. The king tried to apologize, but the witch wouldn't have it. She promised to curse his offspring when they eventually came before disappearing."

Rue's heart turned to stone in her chest. "What was the curse?" she asked in a low voice.

"Curses," Autor corrected her sadly. "There was a personalized curse for you and both your sisters. You, the eldest, were cursed to surrender your life for the man you loved, something you've done both in this life and the last one. The next one…" he looked at Baron nervously, and just skipped over Haru's name, "… was cursed to never give her heart to a mortal. The witch would have left it there, but then the king said something that offended her, so she added that only cats would ever desire the middle princess."

Baron's mouth fell open. _'…Of course! __**That's **__why no human's ever looked at her! Blast it, why didn't I figure this out sooner?'_

"Wow, that explains what was going on between you two, all right," Toto cawed in amusement.

"Beg pardon?" Autor asked.

"Never mind. Please, how was Ahiru cursed?" Fakir nearly begged as the little duck on his shoulder flinched.

"Didn't you pay attention, Sir Knight?" the librarian asked with a sad smile. "You already knew that she would dissolve into a spark of light if she ever confessed her love to a man."

Ahiru nodded, quacking sadly. _"That never did get explained in the other book. Thanks a lot, __**Dad**__."_

Baron concealed a sad smile, one finger caressing the grey princess's face on the page. "How did the princesses die, eventually?"

Autor shuddered, and pointed at Mytho. "After all the princesses had reached a suitable age, Prince Siegfried right here traveled from his homeland far across the sea, because his parents had arranged with their father that he would marry the one of his choice, but if he chose the eldest, he would become king after their father was gone. Normally, they would have chosen someone from their own court, but the prince was unusually gifted with magic, so he was more or less ordered to come here, and to never return to his own kingdom, where his older, magic-less brother was to be the heir."

Fakir suddenly looked scared. "Rue and Ahiru fought for Mytho, didn't they?"

"Quite fiercely," Autor agreed, staring sadly at the book in Baron's hands. "The middle one, Princess Kokoro, tried desperately to keep them from each other's throats, but eventually, Kraehe antagonized Tutu until she finally confessed her love to the prince, and dissolved into a spark of light."

Rue bit back a cry, stealing Ahiru from Fakir's shoulder to hug her tightly. "I'm sorry, Ahiru!"

"_It's not like you did it again this time, even if you came close," _Ahiru retorted through her quacks, hugging her sister the best she could with her little wings. _"It was another life, Rue; please forget about it."_

"She says she forgives you," Baron supplied, although he was certain that the princess didn't need a translator.

She nodded through her tears, and looked at Autor again. "So it was just the opposite side of The Prince and the Raven, right? I died for Mytho after Ahiru disappeared, but what happened to Haru? She's not even mentioned in the other story."

"You don't want to know," Autor said flatly, turning around so that he could start climbing the ladder.

"I believe we do," Baron said dangerously while coming closer to the bottom of the ladder.

"Well, you don't. _I _could barely handle what happened to her, and I don't even know her."

Baron briefly considered chasing him up the ladder, but then chose to kick the lower end of it instead.

The ladder came down almost immediately, sending Autor falling; screaming at the top of his lungs like a little girl.

Calm and unruffled, Baron hopped over the desk and ran just enough to catch the young man, Toto flying off his shoulder to set the ladder back in the upright position.

Baron set Autor down, but kept one hand on his shoulder to start squeezing hard. "You'd be surprised what I can handle. Now tell us what happened to Kokoro."

Autor cried out, and tried to pry Baron's hand off, but it was useless. "She's the main character! Drosselmeyer got sick of tales that always focused on the oldest or youngest daughter, so he focused on the middle one instead."

"Get to the point!" Rue commanded angrily.

He sighed. "Well, her father didn't like her. At all. It wasn't like he hated her; he just didn't really care about her."

"That's ridiculous," Toto scoffed, but Baron held up one hand to silence him, his heart turning into ice.

'_Haru almost never brings up her father.' _"Please continue, Autor," the Cat Creation said in a low, slightly threatening voice.

"He just assumed that it was the spell over her head that made it impossible for him to care for her, but it wasn't. Men can like her, but they can't love her. He never gave her the chance to get close, so she was practically a stranger to him, despite all her efforts. Once, when she was very young, he told her that if she became the greatest dancer that ever lived, he would love her. He didn't mean it, though; he just wanted her to get so busy that she would leave him alone."

Ahiru gasped. _"So __**that's **__what she meant!"_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Toto demanded angrily, making the humans look at him with confusion.

"_Haru's mentioned that our 'father' gave her some sort of challenge that she could never fulfill, but she couldn't help trying for anyway. She also burst into tears when she started talking about her lack of a relationship with him when alone with me," _the little duck reported.

Baron started hissing angrily. "If that man weren't already dead, I'd kill him myself for doing that to Haru!"

"Doing what?" Rue asked in a panic.

"That part of the story's true. Your father really did falsely promise Haru that he'd love her if she became the greatest. Quick, what else do you know?" Baron asked desperately.

Autor sighed. "You're not going to like it."

"Out with it, already!" Mytho commanded.

"She cursed **you**, highness. After you shattered your heart to seal the Raven, she attacked you, and cursed you for killing her sisters."

"But he didn't kill us," Rue protested.

"In her eyes, he did. Think about it; you three were living in relative contentment before he came, and thanks to him, her two favorite people in the whole world were gone. Even your mother died of grief and some heart condition soon after that. Because of the curse, she didn't really have anyone left." He sighed a little sadly. "You three could always access your magic best in the story by dancing. No offense, but she was the best at it, thanks to her extensive efforts to win over your father. The gift is heightened when the emotions are, and she was wild with grief. Here, give the book back."

Numbly, Baron handed the red book over, and watched the librarian leaf through until he was near the middle of the story.

"Ah, here it is; _'For robbing me of my greatest treasures, oh wicked prince, I will strip thee of thy memories, even as thou didst strip thyself of thy heart. Thou wilt wander the land as a fool until the end of time, never changing or aging until thy whole heart is returned to thee. But thy memories shall remain a mystery until all is made right, and all is brought to light. I should slay thee here and now for what thou hast done to my beloved sisters, so leave before I decide to do so anyway.' _It's amazing, how articulate she can be when she's angry," Autor noted with a slight shudder.

Mytho crossed his arms over his slim chest, and felt his heartbeat, which was speeding out of control with fear. "So that's why she hates me," he whispered, his mind automatically repeating the words in Haru's voice, which was filled with undisguised hatred.

"Haru doesn't hate you! Does she?" Rue asked Ahiru almost timidly.

The duck locked eyes with Fakir and nodded.

The knight sighed. "We all agreed to keep it from you, Rue. Haru didn't want to give you grief over the fact that she hated your husband on sight for no apparent reason, so she hid it. But she promised not to do anything about her feelings unless Mytho deserved it," he quickly asserted. "She even threatened me over Ahiru, and we're friends!"

Rue started shaking her head slowly, tears of frustration threatening to fall from her eyes. "Haru… why are you keeping so much of yourself from me?" she asked out loud.

"Because that's just the type of girl she is," Baron said in a soothing voice, although he himself was troubled by the revelations about the woman he loved. "She's selfless to a fault, and doesn't want anyone worrying about her. There are times when I literally have to force her to tell me what's troubling her. It's an irritating trait of hers, but still quite endearing."

Autor scoffed sadly. "It's also the reason she died all alone."

"What?" Baron asked sharply.

The librarian shrunk back slightly, but wisely didn't make another bolt for the ladder. "She never told anyone how much she suffered, except when she cursed the prince. She never even told her husband, when her father forced her to marry a wandering stranger a few years later."

Then, Baron understood. "So her dreams are truly memories. This explains a bit."

"The ones with all the thees and thous," Rue agreed with horror. "Autor, what happened to make her give birth in a cave with only an ice spirit to help her?"

Autor winced again, and actually shuddered. "You're going to make me tell, aren't you?"

"Absolutely," Fakir growled, leaning against the ladder, just in case.

Autor took another breath for courage. "Well, her husband was really a smitten cat."

"Yes, we already knew about that-" Baron started to say.

"What?" Rue screamed, even as Ahiru began to quack in outrage.

"You knew?" the librarian asked Baron in horror.

"Yes. Haru told me this morning that she figured out that her husband in the nightmares was really Neko-sensei as a human."

"Beg pardon?" Mytho asked in shock.

"Did she mention that he was also the son of the witch that cursed her and her sisters?" the librarian asked with a slightly irritated tone.

Baron's jaw dropped at that point.

"Hold on," Rue said slowly. "Neko-sensei is the lovesick son of a cat witch, who turned him into a human so that he could marry her, _after _she cursed her sisters and herself?"

Autor nodded. "Kokoro would have been able to forgive him for lying if he wasn't the witch's son. But the fact that he had promised their unborn child to his mother, if he didn't win both her love and her father's crown before their first child was born? That just made her lose her temper. She yelled at him for quite a while before running to tell her father. But, he didn't believe her. No one did." He looked down at the ground, almost shamefully. "Her husband denounced her as well, because if the truth were found out, he'd be banished at best, and killed at worst. He adored her, of course; just not enough to give up the kingdom for her. She was written off as a lunatic, and sentenced to spend the rest of her life in a remote tower of the palace. No one expected that to be very long, since her health had been deteriorating throughout the pregnancy."

Baron's heart froze in dread. "She didn't put up with that, did she?" He said it as more of a comment than a question.

Autor shuddered. "I didn't tell you the worst part of it, yet. Just before the guards tried to drag her away, her father stripped her of her last hope. Even until that point, she had been doing everything within her power to win his love, despite the fact that she had already become the greatest dancer that ever lived. Because he was so humiliated by her behavior in front of the entire court, he went ahead and told her that he had lied when he said that he would ever love her, and that she was the greatest disappointment of his life. He said a lot of other things to her as well, like how he wouldn't hesitate to trade her life for that of even one of her sisters, since _they _were the ones he loved, and not her. He could never remember her real name, and didn't even count her as one of his daughters." He shook his head in horror.

"That king had made a lot of mistakes when it came to his middle daughter, but that one was the worst one of all. You see, the hope of gaining her father's love was the only reason she didn't kill herself to be with her sisters years before. She had been drowning in depression ever since, barely able to cling to even that hope. Do you have _any _idea, what can happen when you strip away a magically well-endowed princess's last hope?" he demanded almost frantically, now shaking like a leaf.

Rue stared at him with horror. "When you first saw Haru, you acted like she was the grim reaper."

"She might as well be! After her father was done screaming at her, she went _**mad**_. She turned the guards into blocks of ice before shattering them. Then she threw a long icicle at her father, and it went through his heart like melted butter. She then massacred the entire court including her traitorous husband, making her father watch even as he died. _Then _she summoned a blizzard so powerful that it buried the castle under a mountain of ice." He pointed one finger through a window, where one could see the tallest mountain's peak.

"If my studies are correct, the castle's still buried underneath her curse, with the entire court dead inside it. Kokoro's madness wasn't played out yet, so she summoned tsunamis powerful enough to permanently swallow large bits of the continent, until all that was left of her father's kingdom was this island. The deaths of the peasants numbered in the millions."

"This is too much!" Baron suddenly snapped, _refusing _to believe that his sweet Haru could ever be capable of committing such horrors.

"I told you; the critics said Drosselmeyer gave Princess Kokoro far too much grief. They said that there had to be some sort of limit to her grief, but there wasn't. Part of her mind returned after she was done tearing apart the kingdom. She would have killed herself then, for destroying so many lives, but despite everything, she still loved the child in her womb. She allowed herself to live long enough to give birth to a perfect little girl, and to hypnotize a lonely couple into thinking that her baby was theirs. She did this because she suffered from some heart condition that she inherited from her mother, and was going to die soon anyway. She couldn't even leave a note explaining her daughter's royal heritage because her feline mother-in-law was still looking for her grandchild. Queen Kokoro- her father and husband were dead, so she _was _the rightful ruler- wanted her daughter to grow up free and happy. She buried what jewels she had left in the lonely couple's garden for them to find in the spring, and returned to the mountain. She quite literally danced herself to death, dying at the precise moment she turned eighteen. Her body became lost under the ice, along with her ancestral home."

Autor sighed, and shut the book with a note of finality. "And so, the only thing that was ever different about the daughter of the Queen of Ice and Chaos was her deep love of ballet, and her strangely deep emotional bond with both birds and cats. Because she didn't know who she really was, she could never access her magical abilities, nor could the following descendants, for the centuries to come. I wouldn't be all that surprised to learn that Princess Rue and her sisters are the descendants of Kokoro's daughter. It would explain a great number of things."


	28. Mortification

**Chapter Twenty Eight: Mortification**

Rue held Ahiru close to her chest, her heart frozen in horror. "Oh, Haru. We **can't** let this happen to her!"

Baron bristled angrily. "Now I'm _really _glad I told her how I truly felt. I believe the best way to prevent this from repeating is to go back to Haru's room right now and force her to come clean about everything."

"Isn't that a little backwards at this point?" Fakir asked, still shell-shocked. "I mean, we already know the truth about her."

"Ah, but she doesn't _know _that we know," Baron said with a grim smile. "If we can beat it into her head that she doesn't have to be the strong one all the time, perhaps she'll stop trying to be."

"What do you mean, 'tell her how you felt'?" Autor asked curiously. "You heard for yourself that she can't give her heart to a mortal."

"I'm _not _a mortal," Baron said with strained patience, tipping his hat politely to the flabbergasted librarian. "Thank you kindly for sharing her story with us, Autor. If the five of you would like to talk a little longer, feel free, but I'm going to go see Haru."

Toto flew down from his perch, with a sad grin. "I'll race you there."

Baron grinned back and ran for the door.

"Should we follow them?" Mytho asked numbly as the two Creations fled from the library.

Rue shook her head, a tiny smile finally working its way onto her face. "Let's give them a few minutes, first. Haru knows we're not going anywhere."

Autor was still staring out the door. "_Not _a mortal?" he whispered, his heart already beginning to relax. He sighed, a smile finally making an appearance. "In that case, maybe all hope isn't lost, after all."

ooOoo

"Baron!" Muta yelled at the top of his lungs, hopping through one of the windows of the castle to run at his friend's side as they raced down another hallway. "I know who killed Haru's father!"

"I'm no longer interested in that _moron_!" he hissed savagely, making another sharp turn.

"**Get** interested!" Muta snapped, beginning to pant a little. "A bunch of cats did it while he was alone in the woods!"

"What, why?" Toto asked, almost making a u-turn in the air as Baron stopped cold in his tracks from shock.

"It was on the order of their leader," the fat cat said seriously. "The stupid head's name is Cat R. Waul. Ring any bells?"

Baron stared at him incredulously. "You mean to say, he first murdered her father, and then tried to pay court to her?"

Muta nodded. "From what I've been hearing, he did it for revenge, but I couldn't find out what the guy did to offend him."

Baron sighed, shaking his head as he returned to running. "The sad part is I don't know if she'll be angry or grateful that Wally did it. Guards!" he called out to the men standing outside Haru's doors.

They fearfully stood up just a little straighter as he approached.

"Did anyone go near this door?" the Cat Creation asked a little firmly as Toto perched comfortably on his shoulder.

"No, sir," the right one saluted smartly. "No one came anywhere near her, sir. She's still sleeping peacefully."

"Thank you," Baron answered gratefully as the other one opened the door for him.

Smiling a bit, he walked through and headed for her bed, which strangely had the curtains drawn over it. Was the sunlight bothering her?

"Haru," he called softly, drawing the soft white curtain to one side. "We…"

He stared at the empty bed with open-mouthed horror. Well, _nearly _empty.

"Where's Chicky?" Muta asked in a high-pitched voice, even as Baron numbly reached down, and gently picked up the folded note that had been left on the pillow.

_My Lord Baron-_

_However it is you've been keeping me from entering Haru's chambers, you obviously forgot to do it just now. That really was bad form of you, to leave her all alone with only oblivious soldiers to stand guard at her door._

_Well, it doesn't matter anymore. By this time tomorrow, not only will she be my wife, she won't know or care who you____are. _

_She's mine, now. You'll never see her again, so why don't you leave the island while you still can? _

_Farewell,_

_Cat R. Waul_

"Baron?" Toto asked worriedly as his feline friend kept staring at the note, reading the words over and over.

"Well, where is she?" Muta snapped, licking one paw furiously.

"With the cat that killed her father, you moron. Come on, Baron! Say something!" the immortal crow begged.

"When I get my hands on that rogue," Baron said with a menacing growl. "I will skin him with my claws and use what's left to decorate the country side." He stuffed the note into his jacket pocket, and ran past the guards that had been lingering disbelievingly at the door.

They jumped back as Baron stormed through, and began running back to the library to break the terrible news to her sisters.

ooOoo

Reginald paced one of the longer caves of his underground manor, smiling as he looked at the remains of one paw.

What was there now was something in between a cat paw and a human hand. He experimented with his new fingers, smiling smugly as he passed a stalagmite. "I should have called on him sooner," he whispered smugly. _'What I would give, for my dear cousin to see me now. After all those years of listening to him brag about how __**he **__was the right size for her, and I wasn't. I wonder if Drosselmeyer made him shrink, to accommodate my own sudden growth. Oh well; that fool doesn't matter anymore. Nor does the immortal thief.'_

A white cat, now shorter than his knee when she was standing, crept on silent feet from underneath a large white curtain. "She is ready, my lord," the timid servant said with a nervous bow.

"Excellent; leave us," Reginald commanded as he excitedly moved to the curtain.

"Ah, my lord," the servant girl said nervously. "I couldn't remove that gold pendant."

"Then I'll remove it myself!" he snapped impatiently, pulling the curtain aside so that he could behold his bride.

His heart melted, and then burst into song as he looked at her lovingly. She looked so calm and beautiful, lying across the bed like that. Since he had accidentally ripped the first dress he had given her, the one she was currently in was just a copy of it. It draped over her slim frame beautifully, making her look like the princess she was.

Nightgown, indeed! He hadn't even _shown _her what he had lined up for her nightwear!

Moving softly, in case the sleeping powders were starting to wear off, he walked to her bed, and sat on the edge of it. He reached into the side pocket of his red button-down shirt to retrieve a small paper packet. Taking just a pinch of the powders inside the packet, he held it over her nose and slowly worked it free from his fingers, so that she could breathe it in.

He loved her plenty, but knew that she'd throw a huge fit if she woke up before the ceremony at dawn was concluded. It was quite lucky for him that she had hesitated when he used his familiar teleportation spell to sneak into her room unchallenged. If he hadn't been so quick to give her that first dose of sleeping powder, the immortal might have heard her cry out, and come back to fight for her.

Shaking slightly with anticipation, Reginald reached forward with one hand to hold hers. He reveled in the feel of it for a few minutes, _loving _how soft and comfortable her hand was in his. Her touch was cold, despite the many transparent blankets that had been thrown over her. But Reginald was confident that after the ceremony, he would have all the time in the world to warm her up.

"There, my love," he told her tenderly, unable to take his slanted eyes off her. "I told you that dress would suit you wonderfully. Silver has always been your color. Blue, as well. You always looked good in blue." Playfully, he held a hand to his chin. "There's something missing, though," he mused aloud before snapping his fingers in mock-enlightenment. He reached into his other pocket, and pulled out the crystal comb that he had ordered made for her, as soon as he heard that she was returning to her ancestral home.

Tenderly, he slid the jewel-encrusted comb into her soft brown hair, a couple inches over her left ear. "I knew it wasn't too fancy for you, love. I doubt you truly understand what you're worth. You never could," he confided softly, struggling to keep his sudden anger at bay. "That… _insect _that sired you was too much of an idiot to realize what he had in you. So much would be different, if you had anyone _but _him for a father. But I won't make the same mistake, I'll tell you every day just what you're worth," he promised, kissing her limp hand caressingly.

"I know your heart's weak, love. I'll never ask you to dance again, and I'll use all the magic at my disposal to ensure that you'll live for many years yet. If you're strong enough for children, we'll have those as well. I will give you the happiness you've longed for your entire life. After we're married," he purred in that same soft tone, drawing her hand over his face, so that it would feel like she was touching him of her own will. "You will sing that song for _me_ alone. You know; the one you sang for your sisters, about wanting to be with the ones you love? That will be our song, no one else's."

He sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, love, but I can't ever let you see your sisters again. After you return to your true self, you will think that they are still dead. If you find out differently, and seek them out, they will tell you of the immortal doll, and I would lose you all over again. I've been waiting for you since before you were born, love; I'm not about to give you up to someone else." He kissed her hand again, turning fierce about the action.

As he jerked her arm around, the bit of gold around her neck caught the weak light of the single candle next to her. He snarled under his breath, and reluctantly released her hand to start caressing her long slim neck, so much like a swan's. "I suppose you got this trinket from him?" he asked her tartly, taking the chain by both hands and shifting it around so that he could find the clasp. "Well, I can't think of anyone else that would give you a gold fish for a pendant. We can't have that, dear."

He frowned, and turned the fine chain a few more times around her neck. The necklace had no clasp! It literally looked like it had been forged around her neck! He hissed, and took out a small knife from his pocket to start sawing at the chain, since there wasn't enough of it to slip the pendant over her head.

Within seconds, the shining blade was reduced to garbage, rusting even as it ran over the thin gold.

"_Magic_," Reginald spat, dropping the pendant so that Haru's neck wouldn't suffer from his anger. He sighed while brushing the rusty dust from her neck, knowing that nothing would remove the trinket. "As long as it's not something that will lead your immortal to us, I don't care what the bauble does." He chuckled grimly, and sat next to her to once again take possession of her hand. "It couldn't be that, anyway. If it were, he would have found us by now. I'll just tell you it's a gift from myself. Such a shame it isn't silver. Surely that fool could have seen that you were born to wear silver."

He caressed her hand, and drew it over his face and chest in longing. "Oh, if I weren't a gentleman, I would make you _mine_ right here and now," he groaned in pleasurable agony, kissing her hand and arm again and holding it to his heart. "But we both deserve to wait until tomorrow night, when it will be official, and nothing will be able to take you from me again."

He should leave her now. He needed to rest as well, and there was no telling how much longer his willpower would hold out.

It didn't even last until he reached the curtain. Making a sharp U-turn, he pounced back to the bed in a single bound, and pressed his lips fervently against the sleeping princess'.

If she hadn't been deep under the influence of sleeping powder, his passion would have surely awoken her.

He forced himself off the bed after stealing the one kiss, knowing that it was the very least that she owed him for now, and marched out of her little cave. He snapped orders at underlings as usual, and managed his usual stride back to his personal quarters, which had just been outfitted with trappings more suited to his new height.

He pinned the curtain to ensure his privacy, pulled off his gentlemanly attire, and tossed himself onto the large bed he would soon be sharing with the princess of his dreams. He pressed one finger to his freezing lips while closing his eyes dreamily. A passionate moan escaped his lips, as he thought about the joys that the next day would bring him and his bride.

"Just think," he whispered to her, although she was on the other side of his underground manor. "Our kiss will be all the better when you actually participate in it tomorrow. I can hardly _wait_!"


	29. Rage

**Chapter Twenty Nine: Rage**

Neko-sensei stared at the ceiling, sprawled over his bed in the teachers' dormitory close to midnight. The tears were now long-spent, and all that was left was the emptiness. His bed used to be just the right size for him, but ever since he caught his princess kissing the daylights out of another cat, he had slowly begun to shrink. At the present, he was now the size of a normal feline.

He had been born the size of a regular kitten, a fact that his mother had been _very _grateful for. But the older he became, the more he swelled to the size of a human. His mother had explained that his unusual growth meant he had married a human princess in a past life. According to her, when he married the girl of his dreams once again, he would become human as well.

That would never happen, now.

The subtle texture of the ceiling kept changing into images in his mind, mostly into Haru dancing, or watching her dance with the tall orange fellow, Baron, was it?

What does it matter, anymore? Even if she didn't love him, it was clear that she was far happier with the gentlecat in grey than she had ever been with himself.

He wanted to fight for her, he really did. But… how could he? She was so much happier with _him_, and… and…

Didn't she deserve to be happy?

The phone rang, but he didn't answer it.

It wasn't fair. Was it his fate to be alone, now that the girl of his dreams has chosen another? He knew that if he kept trying to pursue her, she just might choose to follow through with her threats concerning his whiskers and tail.

The phone rang again, but he ignored it.

Is it even possible to use a cat's tail to tie a hangman's noose? He shuddered, not wanting to find out for himself.

The phone rang.

"Leave me alone!" he bellowed at the modern contraption, mentally cursing the superintendant for deciding that every teacher needed to have one of the blasted things in their personal chambers.

At long last, the phone stopped ringing. He sighed tiredly, and curled into a fetal position on his bed.

He didn't want to stay here, not anymore. He had trained long and hard to win a spot as a teacher, so that he could find the human mate his mother had promised him. But now that she had gone and chosen someone else, there was no reason for him to stick around, anymore.

He couldn't go home, because then he'd have to explain to his mother why he had failed. She had been looking forward to becoming a grandmother, and he didn't want to tell her that she'd never get the chance. Her voice could be very penetrating when someone angered her, especially her only son.

Now that he had met the perfection of Haru, no other girl would be able to keep his attention.

But if he couldn't stay here, and he wouldn't go home, where could he go? He would never be able to seek employment outside the island-

The Cat Kingdom! Surely they would find use for a heart-broken dance instructor. But would he ever be able to bear watching cats dance, after seeing what Haru-

His thoughts were cut off as a loud banging assailed his door.

"Neko! I know you're in there!" the orange lord yelled in that irritatingly fancy accent of his.

"Go away," the purple and tan cat groaned. Wasn't it bad enough that his rival had won Haru? What else of his could the lord possibly want?

There was a split second of silence, and then the door cracked loudly, splitting down the middle.

Neko-sensei yowled in surprise, hopping off his bed as the- Baron?- kicked the remains of the door out of his way.

The lord looked furious as he stomped into the room, and picked up the teacher by the scruff of his neck. "Mr. Waul is your cousin, correct?"

"Unfortunately," Neko-sensei squeaked, completely cowed by the look in Baron's eyes.

"Where does he live?" Baron demanded, shaking him just enough to make the cat fairly uncomfortable.

"How should I know, I never talk to him!" Neko explained, holding both paws over his head fearfully. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because he kidnapped Haru, that's why!" Fakir growled, stomping through the broken wood Baron had left in his path.

Neko-sensei's heart froze in horror. He looked up at the strange cat with shock. "No," he whispered.

"Yes. Do you know anything at all that can lead us to where he's taken her?" Baron asked, struggling to keep his volcanic rage in check.

Neko-sensei stared blankly at him until the Cat Creation began growling threateningly. "Did… he leave a note? He's always had a thing for leaving notes everywhere."

Baron nodded, and reached into his pocket for the offensive note.

Neko-sensei held the bit of paper between his paws, which began to shake violently with fear and anger. "I'm going to die," he whispered in terror. "I'm going to die a slow and horrific death."

"That's _only _if you don't tell us where Chicky is!" a fat white cat snapped impatiently, extending his claws as far as they could go.

Neko-sensei bit his lip, and moaned in defeat. "He's taken her up the highest mountain, where the castle's buried. I think he believes that he can turn her into her former self. I don't know if he can or not, though. Mother said that it was a complicated spell, and that it should _never _be used on Kokoro in any form." _'But in order to use that spell, he'd have had to dig up her first body. I'd have thought that he would have bragged about finding that.'_

"Thank you for the information," Baron said almost courteously, dropping the teacher onto his bed before turning on his heel. "Let's hurry, gentleman. There's no telling how much time we have."

"Wait!" Neko-sensei cried out before they could leave. He took a deep breath for courage. "I know the exact spot where he'll have to take her. We have until sunrise to get there."

"Why would you help us?" a crow asked suspiciously from the doorway, spreading his wings out to take flight.

Neko-sensei sighed. "Because I love her. If we go right now, we might make it in time."

"Then lead the way," Baron replied in a stiff voice. _'If he really loved her, he would have been smart enough to turn down the kingdom last time.'_

ooOoo

Rue stared out her window to where the sun had set some hours ago, with Ahiru wrapped in her arms possessively. Her eyes were large and vacant, a thin trail of tears trailing down each side of her face. "They'll find her," she whispered to the duck in her arms, brushing one salty cheek against her little sister's feathers. "They have to."

Ahiru quacked worriedly, patting her sister's arms the best she could.

"I still can't believe they're making us stay behind," Rue muttered darkly before sighing. "If it weren't for the baby, I'd go anyway."

Ahiru brightened, and started quacking insistently. The princess looked down at her, her crimson eyes widening slightly.

"You think we should go anyway?"

The yellow bird nodded enthusiastically. She pressed her little wings to her heart, and then pressed them against Rue's while quacking softly.

Rue looked at her little sister, and smiled brightly. "You're right, she's _our _sister, not the others'! But how will we find her?"

ooOoo

Reginald adjusted his top hat one final time, dressed in his finest white suit. He polished his monocle one more time before setting it on his eye. "I hope this pleases her," he said with just a trace of nervousness. He paced in front of the icy altar, where two cold bodies lay, crushing the mountain snow under his paws in the process.

One of the bodies was Haru, breathing shallowly from the cold, and covered in goose bumps. Her brow wrinkled in anguish, but she could not free herself from the sleeping powder's influence.

The other body could have easily been her twin, although it was partially sunken into the block of ice Haru was lying on. It was twisted into a fetal position, trapped in several folds of frozen grey cloth, possibly a cloak. The face was only partially visible, and twisted into an identical expression of anguish.

Reginald gloated over his twin prizes as he took his place in front of the ice altar, to where a tall bookstand had been erected. A book lay open to the spell he needed. "All right, gentlemen," he called with a smug grin. "The sun is rising. Form up into a circle like I told you to yesterday."

"Yes, boss," many of them responded in unison, running around the altar to stand on their hind feet and join paws.

"But I want to help, Boss," Chula whined, popping up from behind one of Reginald's shoulders.

"Too many hands," he answered absently, picking the arachnid up by one of his legs to toss him aside. "I told you; keep watch for anyone that might try to stop what we're doing."

Chula muttered under his breath angrily as he climbed up a tall pillar of ice again.

Reginald shook his head, staring at the first ray of dawn. "Start chanting the words I taught you, _now_!" he commanded his men, just before he started reading from the book.

His voice rang out deep and true as the underlings provided a mystical undertone to the spell that would fulfill his dreams.

At first, there were no noticeable differences, but then silvery mist began to flow outward from the ice altar, and then close in over the bodies like a thick blanket. Haru's weak breathing became muffled, turning into a discomforted groan.

"Boss!" Chula shrieked from his post in the tree. "Several horses and a big bird are coming!"

Reginald didn't dare stop the spell to shout orders. Instead, he increased the pace of the reading, his feline minions thankfully speeding up with him. His voice grew harsh, but had to keep reading, almost screaming the ancient spell.

The mist covering the altar seemed to come alive, towering taller and taller as it completely obscured the two bodies covering it.

Without warning, something big and heavy slammed into his back, making his body slam against the bookstand and fall to the ground. The stiff wood dug deep into his ribs as strong hands beat into his back, and then tore the book out from under him.

"Where's Haru?" the immortal roared angrily, throwing the book as far as he could manage.

"You're too late!" Reginald replied gleefully, as the mist suddenly concaved on itself. "Get this filthy cat off me, **now**!" he roared at his minions, who were only too quick to come to his rescue.

However, it turned out that the immortal was quite skilled with hand-to-hand combat, and he had friends as well. A fat white cat was clawing up as many underlings he could sink his claws into, and a large crow was amusing himself by plucking Chula out of the tree to toss him down the path, where a number of horses could be heard approaching.

His minions were no match for them. One by one, they died under the immortal's fury, and that of his comrades.

Noticing that he was running out of scapegoats, Reginald set himself directly in front of the altar, letting the swirling mist seep through his clothes. _'Did I manage to read the last of the incantation? Yes, I surely must have. I can't wait to see how my queen will kill the immortal!'_

"Stop, Reggie!" his once overgrown cousin screamed as the knight's horse approached, but it was too late now.

At least Reginald got the satisfaction of watching his cousin die, before the prince could come to his aid. The formerly huge feline had never been much of a fighter, and one of his minions had no trouble breaking his neck.

The mist was already starting to evaporate, and Reginald could tell that there was now only one body, now standing on the altar. He was still unprepared for the perfection that was slowly revealed.

Her once-short brown hair now flowed down her back, subtly touched with silver frost. Her gown had also changed, more into the style she must have known centuries ago, with a longer skirt than either of her sisters had worn when they were in princess mode.

As Reginald thought about it, he realized that the current cut of her dress was more suited to that of a married woman, or the widow she now believed herself to be. The shorter, puffier skirts were more suited to maidens.

A fur-trimmed silver cloak now gracefully flowed behind her, and delicate silver toe shoes graced her feet instead of the crystal slippers he had provided for her. The jewel-encrusted comb he had given her had melted into another form; that of a strangely modest crown, gleaming in the growing sunlight. Even the fish pendant around her neck had turned silver.

Slowly, her eyes opened, just as the last of the underlings fell, and the immortal's human friends stopped from closing in on him.

As Reginald stared into her silver-tinged gaze, he realized that her eyes had been the biggest change of all.

ooOoo

"YES!" Drosselmeyer shouted in boyish excitement, pulling his rocking chair even closer to the window that hid nothing from him. "I can't wait to see what she does to all of them. Is that popcorn ready, Uzura?"


	30. Anger

**Chapter Thirty: Anger**

_There was a subtle snowfall, as the young queen stalked the streets far below her mountain of ice. It was a quiet morning, and the sun had not yet shown its face through the mist._

_In her arms was her very last treasure; her beloved yet unnamed daughter. She knew that if she gave her child a name, she would not be able to give her away to a happier existence. _

_It was all she could do to keep her resolve as it was. She brushed her baby's brow with a soft kiss, making it murmur and coo softly in her sleep._

_The young queen's heart, beating painfully in her chest, seemed to break once again. Her long grey cloak billowed behind her, sending fresh snow to cover her tracks. She wasn't certain if what was left of her subjects had suspicions concerning her continued existence, but had long decided to disappear from their lives._

_All she had to do was find a home for her newborn, and all would finally be well. But how could she know which one would be the right one?_

_She made her way to the edge of the village, where there were more trees between the newly rebuilt homes. But all the modest cabins and cottages looked the same…_

_A door opened not too far from in front of her. Startled by the sudden sound, she jumped behind a nearby tree to observe._

_A tall bulky man with simple brown hair walked out of his small cottage, and closed the door behind him. As he turned, the queen saw the terrible grief in his face, and the small bundle wrapped up in one arm._

_It was the same size as her own precious bundle. In the other hand was a shovel._

_In an instant, she understood. As silently as a snowflake, she drifted behind him, until she was stepping in his shadow. The middle-aged man choked out a sob as he gently set his stillborn babe on a soft snow bank, and began the sorry task of digging a small grave in the snow, trying to reach the stone-cold earth underneath._

_Like she was nothing more than a spirit, the young queen picked up the stillborn, holding it in one hand with her own child in the other. She awkwardly used one hand to pull off enough of the rags to see the gender._

_It was undeniably a dead girl. Tears of grief spilled down her face, but knew what she had to do. Behind the busy man's back, she quickly switched the rags and blanket between the babes, until her daughter was squirming slightly in the worn rags. _

_The young queen was now grateful that she could access her magic without dancing, for the man was sure to notice her if she tried it behind his back. She breathed heavily on her daughter, to give her the contagious spell of belief. All that would see her within the next month would believe what she wanted them to believe, and those who were affected would believe her lie for the rest of their days._

_With a final kiss to her daughter's brow, she set her in the exact place where the man had set his own child, and floated into the trees to watch what happened next._

_As the queen knew she would, her daughter soon woke from the cold, and began crying in protest._

_The man froze, and slowly looked over to her. His jaw dropped, and tears began to fall down his face. He dropped the shovel quickly and ran to pick up the child. He looked at her lovingly, and held her tight. "Praise the heavens above," he sobbed before running back into his house. "My darling! Look, our child lives yet!"_

_The young queen could not resist going up to the house to see the one that would mother her child. She stared in disbelief._

_The pale woman on the simple bed was strangely similar to her elder sister in appearance. She cooed at the foundling, already under the spell's control._

_Seeing the three together; husband, wife and child, the young queen knew that her daughter was in good hands._

"_Oh, my little Naoko," the woman wept, holding the babe to her heart. "I had feared thee lost." _

_The young queen quickly ran from the window, in case someone in the small cottage looked up and saw her. Seeing a garden area to the side of the cabin, she immediately used her power to open up a small bit of earth through the falling snow. With one hand, since she was still holding the stillborn, she tore off the crystal bracelets and big diamond necklace that lined her throat. She dumped all her jewelry into the hole to help them support her daughter, and made to send her crown after it. She had always hated the symbol of authority, anyway._

_No. The couple would know she had been here, if they found a crown in the spring. Reluctantly, she set it back on her head, and buried the jewels until it looked like the snow had never been disturbed. She wrapped the stillborn securely in the snow-white blanket, and left the village for good. She held the dead child to her breast, and cried against the cold forehead._

"_Please forgive me, little one," she wept as she summoned a winter breeze to carry them up the mountain. "But there is no need for all to grieve if a portion can rejoice. I wish with all my broken heart that it hadn't needed to be this way."_

_The queen stopped halfway up the mountain, and opened up a deep portion of the earth to make a grave for the child. Although it wasn't her own, the pale queen kissed the babe's forehead tenderly before setting it gently in the frozen earth. She closed the seam of the earth, so that none could tell that the ground had been disturbed, and ran the remaining distance up the mountain. Her heart protested in pain, but she wasn't about to listen._

_Once she was at the top of the ice mountain that contained her ancestral home, she began the dance of death. Her heart burned, and her lungs heaved as they struggled to keep up with her. A small blizzard came into existence, the last visible sign of her rage and sorrow. The wind howled as snowflakes clung to her freezing skin, but she would not stop. _

_She could not stop. Why should she? The last one alive that she cared for would never know her beyond the terrible stories, __**if **__the commoners were even aware that she was responsible for so many deaths. _

_She deserved to die._

_Just as the sun set, many hours later, her heart finally gave out, and she drew her last gasping breath. _

_At the precise moment that she turned eighteen, she fell to the ground dead. The blizzard continued to roar, burying her body under its rage until finally dying out._

_Death was amazingly peaceful. There was no pain, no chill; nothing. Her spirit was wandering in a vast silver mist, lost in the nothingness of death._

Then, just as suddenly, she wasn't dead anymore.

Her lungs expanded gratefully with air, and her heart had returned to its weak beating.

What was going on?

She opened her eyes to immediately see a **large** feline, dressed in a style she had never seen before.

His green eyes gazed at her worshipfully, and he bowed low; holding his strange hat to his heart in salute. "Welcome back to the realm of the living, my queen."

"The… living?" she asked in a low whisper, looking around the familiar snow and ice. It was obviously the same place that she had killed herself, but there were enough signs to tell her it had been at least centuries.

Her fists clenched as she glared at the brown cat. "By what dost thou mean of this intrusion?" she demanded in a low menacing tone.

"I have returned you from the dead to fulfill your destiny; to be my wife."

Queen Kokoro looked at him for a full minute, and then slowly sighed. "Pray; dost thou have _any _idea, how many cats have said those words unto me?" she asked while holding a tired hand to her brow.

"I'm different. Surely you can see that I am different!" the white-clad cat protested, offering his arms to help her down from the altar of ice she was standing on.

She sniffed disdainfully, and jumped into the air, settling slowly on the frozen ground like a spinning snowflake several feet away. "So was my husband, if thou wilt recall." Suddenly, she took a closer look at his face. "Wait… I know thee. It was thou who didst reveal my husband's identity unto me."

"I was? I mean, of course I was," he quickly recovered, bowing low to her again. "My only concern is for your happiness."

"Is that so?" Queen Kokoro asked in a soft voice.

"Of course it is."

She smiled thinly… and suddenly shot one of her icicles at him, one that she had been concealing behind her back.

Just like it had with her father, it collided directly into the middle of his chest, throwing his body against a convenient block of ice. He screamed and convulsed in pain, blood staining his white clothes and dripping onto the snow beneath him.

The queen heard several people gasp, but she didn't care. Slowly, with her cloak billowing in the slight wind, she approached the pinned prey. "I went through a lot of trouble to end my life, rogue. If thou wert truly concerned for my happiness, thou wouldst not have forced me to return to life. Enjoy thy reward, knave."

She snapped her fingers disdainfully, allowing the pillar to grow over the bleeding cat until he was entombed in ice. Her slim fingers curved almost into a fist, and pointed downward. The pillar obeyed, sinking into the earth until there was no trace of the cat that had ruined her life.

Well, _one _of them, in any case.

"Oh, _Haru_," a heartbroken voice whispered from behind her.

She stiffened instinctively, and whirled around. _'Of course,' _she groaned inwardly.

There was another cat, almost identical to the one she had just killed. But he was dressed in light grey, and his fur was of gold and ivory. His eyes, however, were a different, softer green; nearly overflowing with tears as he looked at her.

He was alone, although her ears were strangely sharp enough to hear several people hiding behind another ice block. One of the people happened to be hyperventilating with terror.

She looked at the tall cat without emotion, and held out her hand. She allowed him to watch another long icicle form, ready for her next kill. "Dost _thou _have a 'revelation' for me as well?" she asked in a calm voice, playing with the icicle like a staff.

He sighed, tears escaping from his face to freeze in his fur. "I… I tried to stop him from doing this to you. I'm sorry; I was too late."

She looked at him curiously, and blew on her icicle to make it dissolve into snowflakes. "That was not the revelation I was expecting. What is thy name?"

He looked at her with despair. "You don't remember me at all, do you, Haru?"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "_I_ am Kokoro, queen of this sad island. Methinks you have me confused with another," she replied stiffly. Then she turned, walking to the very edge of the little plateau, where she could see the town far below. "But I must confess; it appears my subjects have done quite well without my guidance. Have they been content?" she asked in a soft voice.

"… Some of them have. Others are desperately unhappy."

Kokoro laughed grimly. "That is to be expected. Pray; why are they unhappy?"

The strange half-cat took a deep breath. "It's because of _you_… my queen. They wish for you to return."

She looked at him with amusement. "And why would they want that? Surely time now shows me for a monster. Do they yearn for death?"

"No." He sighed, and got down on his knees. "Please, Kokoro. It's been several centuries. No one remembers the things you've done, save for a few."

"I have been forgotten?" she asked incredulously. _'Why am I surprised? I've always been the forgotten one.'_

"Not quite. Your sisters remember you."

ooOoo

"No, not now!" Drosselmeyer cried out in dismay, quickly pulling out paper and pen so he could start furiously writing. "Why can't that immortal feline keep that big mouth of his shut? I want a tragedy, and by darn it, I'm going to get one before the day is out! Uzura; where is that popcorn?"

ooOoo

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her heart seemed to break in her chest once again. Her hand shot out on reflex, sending a large icicle in his direction.

How dare that feline speak of her beloved sisters?

But this cat had better instincts than the last one. He quickly rolled to the side and onto his feet again, his eyes filled with renewed horror and sadness. The icicle shattered against a large ice block several feet behind where he had been kneeling.

"My sisters are _dead_. Good day," she snapped at him, not really caring if he died or not. She faced the steep cliff again, and threw her hands high to assume the form of a grey swan.

If she were to kill herself once more, she would have to find a place so remote, that no one would ever be able to resurrect her again.

"Wait, stop!" he cried out, suddenly engulfing her slim hand in his broad one to prevent her from leaving so soon.

She recoiled from his warm touch, even as some strange power overwhelmed her mind.

_Suddenly, there was someone standing right in front of her. She looked up with disinterest, not really caring who it might be._

"_Excuse me," a masked stranger asked politely. "Would you… care to dance?"_

_No, she couldn't! She had made a __**vow **__to never dance again! "Oh no, I'm a meowsy dancer," she tried to beg off, but then realized what word had fallen from her mouth. "Oh no, I'm even starting to talk like a cat!" she groaned, holding her head between her paws to combat the persistent headache._

_But then a gloved hand offered itself to her. She looked up at the mysterious cat with confusion._

"_Just trust me," he whispered, his voice turning warm, almost urgent. _

_She looked from him to the hand a few times before hesitantly setting her paw in it._

'_His touch is so __**warm**__…'_

"Haru? Kokoro?" the orange cat asked worriedly, holding her hand closer to his heart in a slightly possessive gesture. "Please, speak to me."

She inhaled sharply as her mind returned to her, and yanked her hand away from him to hold it against her own chest. Her heart beat wildly, almost singing in her chest as she backed away from the cat creature, suddenly feeling very afraid.

His _eyes_! No man had ever looked at her like this before, and it scared her beyond measure. Not even her husband had looked at her the way this cat did.

It was like he _knew _her, heart and soul. If that weren't strange enough, she could still see… concern? But how could he feel concern for her, a stranger?

"Who… _what _art thou?" she whispered, still feeling his warmth on her hand.

He had begun stepping closer to her, one hand outstretched to assist her if needed. But her question made him stop cold in his tracks, and a spark of hope began to flare to life within his hypnotizing eyes.

He smiled tearfully at her, and straightened in his stance. He then curved his cane behind his back, and held his top hat to his heart, still looking at her in that strange manner.

"I am Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, an immortal cat doll that loves you with every fiber of his being."


	31. Recognition

**Chapter Thirty One: Recognition**

Kokoro stared at him, her mouth slightly open. "An… **immortal**?" _'Of course. Only cats could ever desire me, and no mortal would ever win my heart. Is it possible, or just another trick?'_

He nodded, still gazing at her as he set his strange hat back on his head. "The rogue you just skewered brought you back to life because your modern counterpart wouldn't accept his attentions, but would accept mine. As far as I knew, you didn't know of the curses that hang over your head."

She looked at him suspiciously. "Dost thou mean to tell me that I was reborn?"

"Yes, my queen. Up until a few minutes ago, you were a sweet-natured schoolgirl named Yoshioka Haru. Your sisters were reborn as well, and they're quite worried about you."

"What do they look like?" she quizzed him, just in case he was trying to fool her.

"Your elder sister has thick black hair and crimson eyes. I've been told your younger sister has light red hair, but I've never seen it for myself. The Monster Raven cursed her to stay in the shape of a little duck the day she was reborn. She has nice blue eyes, however, and is a trifle excitable."

Kokoro drew in a sharp breath. His description was accurate.

"Surely Tutu remembers how to break that curse? I've shown her over a hundred times how to free herself from the feathered form. She's long had a habit of becoming stuck in some bird's wings, with or without help."

One of the people hiding behind the ice gasped loudly as the Baron stared at her with wide eyes. "She doesn't remember her past life, my queen. She'll need to be shown one more time."

Slowly, Kokoro nodded, her expression turning fierce. "My lord Baron; if this is a trick of some sort-"

"I know I can count on you to think of a suitable punishment," he finished smoothly, his smile turning gentle. "But I swear to you that I have only spoken the truth. Please, just trust me."

Just trust me. Three little words that made her heart jump around inside her chest like a hunted rabbit, and send heat through every vein of her body. It was a sensation she had almost forgotten about. Why did the phrase affect her so?

Just trust me. No one had ever asked that of her before, save for her sisters. Even when _they _asked for it, she knew better than to actually do it.

Just trust me. The exact words he had used in that strange daydream. His voice was too distinctive for it to have been anyone else.

What did she have to lose? If her hopes were dashed this one more time, it wouldn't be all that difficult to kill this cat, and then herself again. Judging from how tightly her heart felt, it wouldn't take very long at all.

"Take me to my sisters. _Please_."

The Baron beamed at her lovingly, and offered her his arm, like a true gentleman.

ooOoo

"Dang it!" Drosselmeyer howled, scribbling furiously on his sheet of paper. "Why won't he keep that mouth shut? Well, _this _ought to distract her long enough for my tragedy to finally happen. Uzura; are you taking a nap on the job? Uzura?"

ooOoo

Just as Kokoro reached out tentatively to place her hand on the immortal's arm, the ice block she had more or less been ignoring began to crack into smaller pieces.

She looked over at it curiously, withdrawing her hand from the Baron. "Who are thy companions?" she asked curiously, stepping towards the rapidly breaking ice.

"I don't think you want to know that," he said quickly, grabbing her wrist to prevent her from moving any closer to the ice. "Come; didn't you want me to take you to your sisters?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and snapped her fingers once.

The randomly breaking ice immediately melted into slush, sending two humans and a fat cat into a large puddle of ice-cold water. A previously unnoticed crow cawed his delight from a taller pillar of ice, but her attention was quickly diverted from the bird as she got a good look at the ones struggling in the icy water.

She knew that snow-white hair, even after all these years.

The _prince_. How dare he come here?

Her lips curled into an angry snarl, and she made to run at her prey. The Baron immediately grabbed her arms from behind.

This is not to say that she didn't struggle, for she did. Like a common barmaid, she screamed at the prince at the top of her lungs, and squirmed violently in an attempt to escape the Baron's hold. She could easily strangle the little rat with her bare hands, if she could just get that close to him!

Much to her satisfaction, Prince Siegfried looked absolutely terrified of her, his breath coming out in small frantic clouds in the cold air. He scrambled to the edge of the small pool, with the aid of his favorite knight; the only soul that had accompanied him from his homeland.

The dark-haired man held the prince to him like a child, his eyes filled with horror as he looked at her. "Haru, you've got to wake up! You _promised_ you wouldn't try to hurt Mytho if he behaved himself!"

Kokoro strained vainly against her bonds, taking only half a step closer to the prince as the immortal valiantly kept her within his grasp, which was somehow still gentle, even in its fierceness. "I will have thy head for what thou hast done, fiend!" she screamed at the prince, who probably would have been trembling, even if he weren't soaked clean through. Tears of frustration froze on her cheeks as she stamped on the immortal's feet as hard as she could, not even earning a whimper from the strange half-cat for her exhaustive efforts.

She changed herself into a swan to fly away. He held on tight.

She changed into a large snake, and hissed threateningly to scare him. He merely kissed her flat, scaly forehead, and managed to hold onto her long, slick body.

She blew on his clothes to coat them in ice. But being an immortal must have had its advantages, because all he did was start radiating more warmth to melt her ice.

Finally, she turned into mist. There was no possible way for him to hold onto her now! But then his brow furrowed in concentration, and intense light filled the small area.

She cried out, reverting to her normal form to hold her hands to her temporarily blind eyes. The cat promptly wrapped her in his arms again, and held on tight.

It was no use. He was too strong.

"Vile demon!" she panted hatefully at the Baron over her shoulder. "How canst thou hold me fast where several men could not?"

She _almost _felt ashamed of herself when she got a good look at his expression. Tears were freezing into his furry cheeks again, and his eyes looked so sorrowful. Over what? Her?

One thing was clear; the pain he was enduring wasn't the physical kind she was trying to give him.

While her head was still turned toward his, he quickly twirled the rest of her body around to firmly press it against his, her arms pinned uselessly against his chest so that she couldn't wiggle from his grasp.

"Because I'm an immortal, and I love you," he said very simply before pressing his lips against hers, one hand to the back of her neck so that she could not escape his embrace.

Outrage bubbled through her core, and she tried angrily to pull away from the immortal. But he was stronger than her, so much stronger. His glowing green eyes stayed open and on her; determination clear on his features.

Slowly, after a few minutes, she realized that the taste of his lips was familiar. Then, just as slowly, she felt her anger, her rage, and her pain melt away like a stubborn snowflake.

'_He's so __**warm**__.'_

ooOoo

Baron had to fight hard to keep himself under control, as he kept kissing the daylights out of the young woman. With relief, he watched the silver frost begin to melt out of her hair, and felt her body relax against his.

Her beautiful eyes opened and closed repeatedly, each cycle turning her gaze closer into one that he was more familiar with.

Vaguely, recognition returned to them, and her lips curled into a smile against his mouth. "_Baron_!" she giggled helplessly against his mouth, sliding her arms from his chest to wrap around his neck lovingly, now that his arms had relaxed enough for her to move around. "You're such a flirt!" she murmured against his lips before kissing him back.

Baron breathed a huge sigh of relief as tears streamed down his face and onto hers. He kissed her fervently, holding her so tight that she had a little difficulty breathing.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered hoarsely once they finally parted.

Haru scoffed at his fears, rubbing one cheek against his chest affectionately. "Come on, Baron. There's no way on earth you could run fast enough to get away from me. Holy flip, its cold!" she suddenly gasped.

"Says you! You're not the one who went swimming!" Muta snapped at her between his shivers, icicles forming in his fur. "And I was talking about a split personality _before _this happened!" he muttered under his breath.

Haru looked over curiously, and shook her head at the men and cat shivering at the side of the small pool she had just created. "Honestly, guys; what possessed you to jump in there?"

"Ah, you threw them in, love," Baron told her gently, shifting her into one arm and walking around the pool. "Come; we better build a fire-"

"Hold on! I'd never throw them in a… how did we get up here again?" Haru asked, looking around the mountain in confusion.

"You don't remember anything?" Fakir asked, sounding strangely relieved. What was he doing here again?

"Well, I could hear Baron outside my door, heard someone say hello, and next thing I know, I'm in Baron's arms; also known as Heaven." She sighed, and eased herself out of her love's embrace to start looking for a shelter. "Sure hope there's some dry wood up here."

"Come over here, zura," an unfamiliar voice called out, a drum beating in time with the words.

Fakir gasped through his violent shivers, dragging Mytho to his feet. Baron helped him from the other side of the prince, until balance was regained. Muta shook himself one more time, grumbling under his breath.

"Uzura? Is that you?" the knight called out in shock.

"Yes, zura. Please hurry," the voice called out from on top of another ice wall, a little girl suddenly appearing and hopping off of it carelessly.

Haru mewed with alarm, running over the snow just enough to catch the strange child in her arms. "Don't do that!" she scolded, angrily wagging a finger at the… living puppet?

Uzura didn't even blink, shifting her little drum to rest on her back so that she could wrap her tiny arms around Haru's neck, and lay her head on the young woman's shoulder. "Let's hurry, Ice Queen. We don't want them to die, zura. Go that way." She pointed around the ice block.

Haru couldn't say anything. For some reason, the feel of Uzura in her arms felt very… nice. _'Ice queen? What does she mean by that?'_

"Come along, love," Baron encouraged, nudging her softly with his warm hand to get her moving in the right direction, entwining her arm with his.

She nodded, following him with Fakir and Mytho right behind her. Muta quickly caught up to walk at her side, although he was staying a good five feet from her. She looked at him curiously, but he wouldn't look at her. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn that he was _scared _of her.

She cocked her head in confusion, holding Uzura a little closer. This Creation was different from the others she had met. Baron and Toto sometimes took forms of flesh, and their natural forms of stone and wood at other times. Uzura's body, on the other hand, felt like wood, despite the obvious fact that she could move around and talk like she was born of flesh.

But it still felt nice to hold her. Haru smiled a little as the puppet tightened her hold on her neck.

"Ah, here we are," Baron said with relief, standing by the entrance of a large cave, which was dimly lit by the glow of a fire.

"This is the other cat's hideout, zura," Uzura informed him from her perch on Haru's hip. "He had lots of food and fires going, because he thought the Ice Queen would marry him and he could have a party, zura."

"What? Where is that little rat?" Haru demanded, looking around angrily. "I already told him he can't compete with Baron! I'll have his head for this!"

Baron flinched, but she couldn't understand why. Why wasn't he getting worked up over Wally's plans for her?

"Don't worry, Haru," he sighed in a strange, melancholy tone. "He'll never bother us again, I assure you. Inside, everyone, before you catch your death."

"With pleasure!" Muta said happily, running even faster in order to get inside.

Haru giggled at him, letting the soaking men behind her go in before she did, since she wasn't the one soaking wet.

But they were avoiding her eyes, too. She wouldn't have noticed it if it had been only Mytho, but Fakir wouldn't look at her either.

Her head swayed slightly, as her gaze involuntarily turned to the back of Mytho's head. Her brain began to pound painfully against her skull, but she didn't understand why.

"No," Uzura said firmly, pressing both of her tiny hands over Haru's eyes. "If you look at the prince too long, you'll turn back into Kokoro, zura."

"Kokoro? What are you talking about?" Haru asked, trying to move the puppet's hands with one of her own. _'Kokoro… heart?'_

Baron gently grabbed her hand again, and led her into the cave. "There's much to tell, love. It would be best if you sat down before hearing it."

She groaned tiredly as he firmly made her sit down in a comfortable chair, the rest of their company huddled close to the fire. "Baron, just spit it out. What's going on? Why are all of you acting so strangely?"

Baron was looking at her again, his expression full of sorrow. "I know the truth about your father, Haru."

Her heart froze in horror. "Oh, uh, um," she giggled nervously. "And-uh, what truth… would that be?"

"That your old man didn't care about you and never would," Muta growled at her, furiously licking the stray water from his fur. "You should have said that from the beginning instead of dancing around it, Chicky."

Haru's face turned hot with embarrassment, her head automatically tilting towards her lap. "Shoot," she whispered after a few minutes, her hands shaking uncontrollably. "I was hoping you'd never find out about that. My sisters don't know, do they?" she asked in horror.

"Yes. They do," Baron said as gently as he could, kneeling in front of her to capture one of her hands in his own. "There's a lot more, though, that not even you know."

"He's right, zura," the puppet in her arms said urgently, pulling on the fur trim of her cloak.

Wait, cloak? When did she get one of those?

"Drosselmeyer bring you back to Kinkan Town to die today, zura," Uzura informed her; big blue eyes beginning to tear up. "He said you were supposed to kill everyone, and remember who you were when your sisters come to bring you home. Then you were supposed to kill yourself, zura."

Haru's mouth dropped open. "But… I'd never _kill _anyone. Maim, maybe, but never _kill_!"

"Darling," Baron choked, his other hand now caressing her cheek. "You did. You killed Wally, when he told you he was going to marry you."

She started shaking her head slowly, her mind turning numb with shock.

"Remember those dreams you've been telling me about? The ones where you're a depressed princess? They're memories, from a past life. You turned into someone terrible, and killed many people. Your name was Kokoro."

Haru closed her eyes, sending unexpected tears down her pale cheeks. "No," she whispered, even as something inside of her whispered in a horrific, agonized voice.

'_Yes…'_


	32. Retribution

**Chapter Thirty Two: Retribution**

"They have to be up here somewhere," Rue confided in an irritated tone, holding her cloak a little tighter against her body in the late afternoon.

Ahiru shivered her agreement from her perch on the princess's shoulder, huddled tight against her big sister's neck.

Rue urged her black mount up the steep mountain, feeling a strange pull to go up the trail. She wasn't quite sure what made her want to go up the mountain, but something told her that her other sister was at the top. As the horse plodded on, she struggled to keep from wondering if she was walking over her castle from another life, and all the frozen bodies that her sister had slaughtered.

She shook those thoughts away angrily. No, things were different, now. Haru wouldn't hurt a fly, right?

"All right, this is just plain creepy," a voice suddenly cawed at the sisters, making them look up sharply.

Toto was flying out from between some trees. "That little puppet even knew you were coming. I wonder what else she knows."

"So we're on the right trail!" Rue exulted. "Is Haru all right?"

Toto sighed, flying just over her head. "That depends on your meaning of 'all right'. I think she needs you two as soon as possible. Follow me."

Worried by the crow's tone, Rue did as he asked. Her heart beat loudly in her ears, especially when she saw the remains of a great struggle, several broken cat bodies serving as testament to the fact. A shrunken Neko-sensei was counted among the dead.

Rue regretted that. Although she had come close to hating him at times as one of his students, she had never wished for his death. If he had known beforehand that he was going to die for Haru's safety, would he have still come to help rescue her?

Something told her yes. She sighed, and kept moving.

But the brown cat she saw Haru yelling at the few days before was not among the bodies. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she slid off her mount, and tied it to a tree close to the other two horses.

"This way," Toto encouraged her, flying around a large boulder of ice.

Ahiru cuddled deeper against her neck as Rue nearly ran after the bird, following it without hesitation into the small mouth of a cave.

What she saw inside nearly broke her heart. On one side of the cave was a cheerful fire, around which were huddled her husband and his knight, along with Muta.

On the other side of the cave was Haru, sitting in Baron's arms with Uzura on her lap. One of her bare arms was loosely wrapped around the living puppet while her other hand tugged absently at the small crystal crown on her head. Her expression was full of horror as she slowly turned to look at her sisters.

There was something off, in Haru's eyes. Something terrible, that she couldn't put a name to.

Rue bit back a cry, throwing herself at her little sister and the cat man holding her. Haru was icy cold to the touch, even when sandwiched between the bodies of her sisters and sweetheart.

"What happened, Haru? What did Wally do to you?"

A single tear dripped from one eye, freezing into a tiny drop of ice on her cheek before it could fall off her face. "Forget what Wally did," she whispered in a tiny voice. "He's paid for it already."

"Where is he?" Rue demanded as Ahiru quacked indignantly, patting her sister's ice-cold cheek with one wing.

"Let it be," Baron said in a soft voice, still stroking Haru's now-long hair. "He's dead. He should have known better than to resurrect Kokoro."

"That was Drosselmeyer's idea, zura," the puppet confided sadly. "He lied to the kitty to make him bring Ice Queen back because she was too happy in this life, zura."

"Jerk," Haru breathed, resting her head tiredly on Baron's shoulder. She kept tugging on the crystal tiara, but it was clearly not budging.

Baron held her just a shade tighter as Rue fingered her sister's new hairstyle.

"Dang it; I thought he really was gone for good. Why didn't you tell me and Ahiru that Father treated you so terribly?" the dark princess asked softly.

Haru flinched, and stared at her lap. "It wasn't your fault, Big Sis. Why should I deny you and Ahiru what was always denied to me? He did love you; I wasn't lying about that."

"But not _you_," Rue retorted hotly, stealing another hug from her little sister. "If he couldn't give _you_ a chance after everything you've done for him, then I don't want his love. I'm pretty sure Ahiru feels the same."

The duck in question nodded fiercely, wrapping her wings around Haru's head for a compromised hug.

"So… you know everything then?" she asked numbly.

"No, but I know enough. Speaking of which, did Baron manage to tell you about Kokoro yet?"

"Unfortunately," Haru replied glumly, renewing her attempt to get the tiara off. "Did _your_ crown stick to your head in princess mode?" she asked in exasperation, since the symbol of authority wouldn't budge an inch.

"I didn't have one," Rue admitted sheepishly. "But Ahiru's was stuck pretty good. I'm betting it's to keep it from falling off when we're dancing."

"Not that she's going to be doing any of _that _any time soon," Baron said heatedly, nuzzling one of her cheeks against his own to melt the ice tear off.

"Haru," Fakir said cautiously, standing up from in front of the fire. He brushed his red suit clean; one that had been one of Wally's, since his own clothes were soaked through. "When… you were Kokoro, you said that you knew how to help Ahiru."

"Fakir," Baron said warningly, but it was too late.

Haru's head snapped upwards as Ahiru sharply looked at her knight with shock. "Did I say that?"

"Yes," he concurred, ignoring the death glare from Baron. "You said that you had helped her regain her true form loads of times in your past life, because she kept getting stuck as some form of bird."

Haru looked at Ahiru helplessly. "Dang it; why did the psychotic killer version of me have to be the one to know this? Should I try to change back into Kokoro so we can-"

"_**NO**_!" all the men and Uzura yelled at her in unison, making the three princesses shrink back noticeably.

"Or if you do, can you at least let me get out of sight first?" Mytho asked in a sick voice, shakily rising to his feet. He was also dressed in one of Wally's suits, for lack of better clothing for the present. "I'm going to have nightmares for years as things stand, thanks all the same."

Haru sighed, rubbing one cheek against Ahiru's feathers. "So… how can we fix Little Sis, if you won't let me change back? I'm not leaving her like this for the rest of her life."

"I'm not saying that, love," Baron tried to soothe her, his expression growing desperate. "All I'm saying is that we'll find another way. Kokoro is too dangerous to chance bringing her out again. Haru; when were you born?"

"If it's really been a day since I was abducted, I'm eighteen today-"

"No, darling," he sighed, pressing a gloved finger against her lips. "I meant what _time_ of day. According to the book, you are supposed to die the exact second you were born."

Haru's heart beat sluggishly, already worn out. "Sunset," she said after a few minutes of struggling with her memory. "Yes, Mom said Rue was born at midnight, I remember Ahiru was born at noon sharp, and Mom said I was directly between them in birth."

"That could mean sunrise, you know," Muta told her gruffly, cautiously moving closer to the girl, now that his fur was as dry as a bone.

"Then wouldn't I already be dead?" she asked in an irritated tone, nibbling her lower lip in thought. _'There's got to be a way through this. I don't mind dying if it's my time to go, but I refuse to leave until Ahiru is made whole again.' _Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Uzura, how do you know what Drosselmeyer wants out of me?"

"Because he told me, zura."

"Does that mean that you know where to find him? Whatever I knew in a past life, I bet he knows right now."

Baron grinned evilly. "Excellent idea, love. Well, can you show us the way, Uzura?"

The puppet child beat her drum nervously, still sitting on Haru's lap. "Are you gonna kill him, zura?" she asked worriedly.

"How can we if he's already dead?" Haru asked with strained patience.

Uzura thought about it, and then brightened like a light bulb. "Good point. Let's go visit Drosselmeyer, zura!"

ooOoo

"Uzura, you traitor!" Drosselmeyer shrieked, falling out of his rocking chair and flat on his face. He scrambled back to his feet, and started looking around frantically, trying to find a place to hide.

He ran off of the gear that had been serving as the main room of his mechanical mansion, and slipped to a hidden place underneath it, and not a moment too soon.

He heard the light tinkle of a portal go off over his head, and felt the steady footsteps pound on the gear.

"What a twisted place," the ice queen said softly, ice forming on the opposite side of the gear she was standing on.

"Drosselmeyer likes it this way, zura," the puppet answered her, pounding again on that infernal drum. "Drosselmeyer! I bring you guests, zura!"

"Where is he, anyway?" the dark princess asked angrily, running from one side of the gear to the other to look for the old man.

"He must be around here somewhere, right, Uzura?" the immortal cat hissed in a low growl, strangely not moving at all.

"Yes. He can't leave unless someone calls for him, zura. Drosselmeyer, princesses want to talk to you!"

"He's here, I can feel it," his favorite character murmured, stepping slowly to the edge of the giant gear. Ice trailed behind her, giving the old man a very good idea of where she was heading.

Drosselmeyer's heart pounded in fear. If she should find him-

Suddenly, the orange-furred immortal peeked below the gadget, one hand on his top hat to keep it on his head. He grinned wickedly. "Ah, there you are, old boy. I'd like to have a word with you."

The old man squeaked in terror, and slipped out of his hiding place. He allowed himself to fall, landing on a giant net that he had put there, just in case. He sighed happily… until he saw two of the princesses and the immortal cat jump down after him. Terrified, he scrambled to get to the edge of the net, but the collusion of three bodies sent his own flying into the air, and back near the center of the net like a trampoline.

As he came to a rest in the middle, he saw the yellow form of Princess Tutu slowly fly down from the giant gear as Kokoro's face suddenly loomed in his vision; cold and furious.

"So," she said almost formally as he inched away from her. "You're the reason I nearly killed myself for sixteen years?"

"Not me, necessarily," he tried to lie, but then a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, throwing him back onto the net.

The immortal was holding him by the throat, his expression just as angry. "Don't bother; you already know what we want. Give it to us, and we'll leave you be."

"No!" Drosselmeyer howled stubbornly, kicking Kokoro's foot so that he could roll over and try to escape.

But the immortal was too quick for him. He pounced on the writer's back, making him fall to the floor just beyond the net. "_Never _attack Haru again," he hissed into the old man's ear as Kraehe helped her sister back to her feet. "Come now; it can't be all that difficult to tell us how to fix Ahiru."

"The difficulty's not the problem!" Drosselmeyer managed to groan. "I don't do happy endings; Kokoro _will _die at sundown, Tutu _will _remain a duck, and there's not a blasted thing you can do to stop it!" He laughed maniacally, but was cut off by Kokoro's bland tone.

"The laugh's a bit much, don't you think?" she asked her sisters conversationally before absently kicking the author in the stomach. "Are you sure that there's nothing we can do to change your mind?"

"Not a thing!" he said cheerfully, grinning at the ice queen through his pain. "You were my crowning glory, no matter what the critics said! I will not abandon you again!"

"Maybe I _want _to be abandoned, at least by you!" she roared at him as Baron kept him steady. "Didn't you do enough to me the last time? Let Ahiru get a bit of happiness, at least!"

"Never! I will not destroy the moral of your story!"

Haru's heart rate began to increase. "M-Moral? You're willing to sacrifice lives for a stupid _moral_?" she screamed as her brain seemed to catch on fire.

"It isn't stupid! You're living proof that not everyone is destined to have happiness!"

Haru didn't think. She could barely even feel. She watched her body suddenly lower over her creator's, something sharp suddenly in her hands. With great satisfaction, she plunged her weapon deep into Drosselmeyer's stomach, and into the floor on the other side of him. His scream of pain was equally satisfying, but just as suddenly brought Haru back to her senses.

She stepped away from the author… to see that she had planted a long icicle in him, pinning him to the ground.

Baron had jumped away from him, his expression suddenly horrified. "Haru? That's still you, isn't it?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded, staring at her hands. How had she done that?

"It shouldn't be surprising, Haru. You're still in queen mode," Rue told her gently, Ahiru in one of her protective arms.

But Haru shook her head in disbelief. "My outfit had nothing to do with that. I'd bet my life on it."

Drosselmeyer, being dead already, had begun pulling on the icicle, trying to take it out of his body. His expression was terrified. "My ice queen is still inside of you, she wouldn't like me either-" he tried to explain, scared that she was beginning to catch onto the secret of her power.

"Could it really be that simple?" Haru asked softly, cutting the author off. She held out her hands, and concentrated as hard as she could manage. Slowly, an identical icicle began to form, but then grew larger as Haru's concentration got better.

"Haru?" Rue asked worriedly, but her little sister held up one hand to shush her gently.

With slightly wild eyes, she concentrated again, and held her arms upward, much like the way Kokoro had when Baron had stopped her from leaving that morning. _'Feathers. Long, grey feathers.'_

Icy mist formed up around her, cocooning her for three long seconds.

"Oh no," Drosselmeyer whispered in horror.

"Come on, Haru," Baron said through his teeth, not wishing to lose her again.

But his fears were for nothing. The mist gave away to reveal a beautiful grey swan, the feathers almost a metallic silver. She trumpeted once, and took to the air gracefully. She sailed once around the large mechanical lair, dodging gears with ease until landing right next to Baron.

The mist reappeared, only to leave behind a widely grinning Haru. "Never mind, guys. It looks like we don't need him, after all." Then she burst into hopeless laughter, confusing everyone in the room.

"Haru, dear," Baron said worriedly while taking her by the shoulders.

But she merely threw her arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly. "I'm sorry," she giggled helplessly. "But… it's just so funny that it took this long for Dad to help me out with _anything_, let alone something like this. Any last words, Drosselmeyer?"

"Um… sorry?" he squeaked fearfully.

Queen Kokoro grinned evilly… and began dancing.


	33. Acceptance

**Chapter Thirty Three: Acceptance**

Fakir nibbled on a thumbnail nervously. "I still wish they had let us go after Drosselmeyer too. I mean, think about all the times he tried to kill us, just in this lifetime!"

Mytho shuddered. "I'm not complaining, personally. Anything that puts Haru at a good distance from me is a good thing by my standards."

Fakir sighed. "You know that's something neither of you can help, right? Things have changed."

"Not enough to suit me," the prince retorted, sighing a little. "I'm partially hoping that she _will _die at sunset."

"I, for one, hope not!" Fakir snapped at him. "After everything Drosselmeyer's already put her through, she deserves more than a few days of happiness."

"No kidding! For a prince, you're not sounding very princely!" Toto snapped at the guy angrily. "Besides, your wife won't be pleased with that comment."

"So the real question is; how much are you willing to keep us from telling Haru?" Muta purred evilly, opening one eye lazily from the interrupted nap. "I'm pretty sure she'll be miffed enough to do something about that."

Terrified, Mytho was about to say something.

But then the white portal appeared again.

He clamped his mouth shut as a fresh wave of cold air slapped him in the face.

Baron walked out of the portal with Haru on his arm, and a grinning Uzura on his shoulder. They were quickly followed by Rue, Ahiru still in one arm. Baron, Rue, and Ahiru were wearing expressions of complete shock, but Haru looked like she had won the lottery.

"Hey, Fakir! Drosselmeyer's not going to be bothering anyone for a long time. Can I borrow your talent as a writer?"

He nodded, and began sifting through the cave's boxes to find paper and ink.

"So, what happened?" Toto asked eagerly.

"Haru… _froze _Drosselmeyer, and his entire fortress!" Rue gasped with shock, sitting down next to her husband to lean into his embrace. "She turned his entire dimension into a block of ice!"

"Nice one, Chicky!" Muta cheered evilly.

"At least it can't be counted as murder," the silver princess reminded her sister with a grin, holding onto Baron's arm a little tighter.

She didn't know if she'd ever get the chance to do it again.

"Darling, you never told us how your father helped you just now," Baron gently reminded her. "I'm rather curious about it, actually. How did the old scoundrel help you?"

Haru giggled sadly. "I remember him saying something about hidden potential when I was very young. He said that the only difference between the stars and everyone else is knowing how to access that potential. If I had fully realized that years ago, I could have used magic when I was a child, no matter the outfit! I'm betting the same holds true for Rue and Ahiru. Do you need some help, Fakir?"

"No, I found it!" he said triumphantly, slamming a stack of papers onto a wooden crate, and opening a small jar of ink. "Dang it; where's a quill when you need one?"

Toto hopped from his perch on some stacked boxes, and landed on the knight's shoulder. "Take only one feather, or I'll peck out your eyes," he warned him, holding out a wing with distaste.

Fakir nodded gratefully, and quickly pulled a decent-sized feather. Toto cawed with displeasure, making Muta purr evilly again.

Quickly, the knight cut and slit the tip of the feather for a makeshift quill, and dipped it carefully into the ink. "What do you need me to write, Haru?" he asked her eagerly.

"Okay, here's what we found out-"

"What _you _found out," Baron corrected gently.

She ignored that. "Ahiru already has the ability to change forms, but she doesn't understand how to control it. It will be even harder with the spell on her head, which is why she'll need Rue and I to help her out."

"How can we do that?" the eldest princess asked.

"We'll dance with her, lend her our power. If we dance as one long enough, it **will** break the spell. Fakir, your ancestor says I'm fated to die at sundown, no matter what I do. I would appreciate it if you found a way to write around that, and to help us give Tutu enough power to change into her natural form."

"Love, I don't think this is a good idea," Baron tried to say, but Haru squeezed his chest in a comforting manner.

"_Please_, Baron. This needs to happen. I love you; remember that." She kissed his cheek tenderly, a single one of her tears freezing into his fur.

His chest convulsed angrily, and he held her fiercely for another kiss. One that he would be able to remember for the years to come, if worse came to worse.

"Be careful with my brunette," he told her when they finally parted.

She grinned at him, and held her hand to his cheek as she stepped back from him. "Always. Come on, Rue, Ahiru! Daylight's running out!"

"Are you sure about this?" Rue asked as Haru nearly dragged her out of the cave by one arm.

"We **all** have to be sure, or it won't work. _Please_, guys. Let's make the last moments count." She stepped farther away from her sisters as all the guys but Fakir, already writing at a furious pace, crowded by the mouth of the cave.

Unbidden, Rue let Ahiru fly from her hands to land a good few yards from both of them. Looking up, she realized that she and her sisters were now forming the shape of a triangle.

There were mere minutes to sunset. Uzura set the mood by playing her drum for the princesses to dance to.

Haru smiled lovingly at her sisters, rotating her arms over her head. "Let's dance, and believe. It won't mean anything unless you believe it will."

Rue nodded, choking back a sob as she imitated her sister's gestures. Ahiru was doing the same, although her expression was full of horror.

With determination clear in her eyes, Haru led them in dance, severely limiting herself in the process.

Rue twirled around, thinking about everything that had led up to this moment.

All her life, the only thing she had ever truly asked for was unconditional love. She had found that in the prince, and in her pair of friends, but she had still longed to know where she had come from.

When she found out about Haru, she had been so terrified of rejection. After all, she seemed like the perfect ballerina on that impressive video, someone who only needed a career in order to be happy.

Her heart melted, remembering the look on Haru's face when they first met. That same timid fear, soon replaced by the unconditional love she had longed for her entire life. Haru may have had a few problems herself, but there wasn't a day that went by since, that Rue forgot to be grateful for her little sister.

For her little _sisters_. Oh, she loved them so much…

Suddenly, a strange, caressing warmth began to stir to life inside her body. Emboldened, she threw herself harder into the dance. _'Of course! __**Love **__is the key!'_

Haru smiled encouragingly, since Ahiru was starting to catch on as well. They pirouetted around to make a circle in the snow, their bodies strangely in time with each other.

This was wonderful. Soon, she could _feel _her sisters' aura as well as see them. Rue's shadow began to elongate and grow, but there was no malevolence in the action. Haru's form began to disappear into the silver mist that appeared to be her trademark. Ahiru, tiny little Ahiru, began to glow with golden light, much like she had years before when Mytho defeated the Raven.

In sync with each other, Rue and Haru pointed their arms at Ahiru, sending both shadow and mist at the little yellow duck.

She quacked in shock as the double force hit her, but kept dancing with her big sisters.

Then… miracle of miracles! Ahiru began to grow!

Gracefully, both Rue and Haru twirled closer to their little sister, pirouetting around her again and again to help her body absorb their magic. Haru was panting heavily now, one hand struggling to keep from clutching her failing heart.

Ahiru kept growing. Her wings began to grow longer, the very tips of the yellow feathers changing into fingers. Her body stretched like taffy, making her limbs and torso long, and filling out slightly as the feathers began to shrink back into her peach-colored skin.

Rue and Haru held one of Ahiru's hands over her head, and twirled her around in between them to conceal her increasingly recognizable nude human body. Almost like a spider, Rue filtered her shadow power into fine silk, mixing with Haru's mist until the fabric was dark grey. Together, they wrapped the material around the emerging girl's body in a toga style, Haru neatly clipping the ends together with miniscule icicles, a wide smile of satisfaction on her trembling, exhausted lips.

Ahiru's beak dissolved into a small mouth, and the feathers on her head soften into light red locks, suddenly twirling up into a tight bun at the top of her head.

Haru gasped with the pain, stealing a tiny look at the sun, which was nearly done setting. But she kept dancing with her sisters, even until Ahiru looked every bit as normal as any seventeen year old girl did.

Just as the last feather disappeared for good, Haru snapped away from her sisters, both hands to her heart. A death gasp passed her lips, and she fell backwards as the sun finally set on her life. The snow made a slight crunching sound as she hit the ground. The crystal tiara fell off her head, to rest on the unbroken snow.

"Haru!" Rue wailed, falling to her sister's side as Uzura's song faltered.

"H-Haru!" Ahiru sobbed in a human tongue, wrapping her arms around her big sister's body, ignoring the ice and snow under her bare feet. "Don't leave, Sis!" she cried. "I love you!"

Suddenly, she was gently pushed aside, and Baron wrapped the slim brunette into his arms, his face full of grief. "Someone tell Fakir to keep writing!" he roared at the guys still by the cave's mouth.

Muta and Toto both nodded, and ran back inside as Mytho ran closer, to sweep a weeping Rue into his arms.

His own expression was pained. _'I know I wanted Haru gone, but… not like this. Please Fakir; come through this one last time!'_

Ahiru's tears fell like rain as she watched Baron cradle her big sister's body so tenderly. "No, I didn't want her to die for me," she wept, burying her face with her bare hands, ignoring the freezing cold mountain air. "Please, Fakir, give me my sister back! She deserves better than this!"

Uzura had walked up to the small group, her expression sad. "Please no go, zura. Stay, and be happy."

"He says he's working on it!" Muta yelled from the entrance of the cave. "Try to clear your mind, Baron! He's targeting _you_!"

'_Clear my mind,' _Baron thought with an angry laugh. _'How can I possibly do that? But, I must. I won't let Haru get away from me this easily.'_

Then, suddenly… he remembered something from his first days of life. His creator had made a remark, when he was explaining the concept of love to the newly born Creation.

"_This may sound crazy, Baron, but whenever I heard about love as a child, it was usually expressed as 'giving your heart away'. Do you know what I thought they meant?" the young man had asked with an embarrassed chuckle._

Baron looked down at the brunette in his arms, stiffening his resolve. "It's worth a shot," he muttered, setting her down neatly onto the snow, with her arms at her sides. "Step away, please," he told the grieving sisters, throwing off his jacket and unbuttoning his vest and shirt. "The results will be disastrous if I botch this up."

"What are you going to do?" Rue asked worriedly, even as Mytho pulled her away, Ahiru doing the same with little Uzura.

"You'll see," Baron said shortly, grabbing the crystal tiara that had fallen from Haru's brow.

He held the longest spike of it to his chest, and carefully slit his hide open, using his own magic to ease the pain that would have normally followed.

Ahiru gasped, and covered Uzura's curious eyes as Baron put the clean crown aside, and reached inside his own chest, his expression merely discomforted.

Instead of a flesh and blood heart, there was a precious jewel; an emerald the size of Baron's fist.

Already feeling the effects of losing his heart, Baron quickly set his heart aside, and used the tiara to perform the same procedure on Haru, pulling at the neck of her dress just enough for him to avoid tearing the cloth.

It could have been the magic in the crown, but there was no bleeding as he discreetly opened her chest enough to carefully take out her heart, and replace it with his own. He pinched the ends of the cut together, until they held fast. He then covered her pale skin with the only slightly torn cloth, and saw to himself.

Baron looked at Haru's heart for a moment, with tears in his eyes. It was a beautiful diamond, unlike any the world would ever see again. The only thing marring it was a big crack through the middle, like some idiot had dared to attempt shattering the precious jewel.

Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't too far from the truth.

Before his senses became too dulled, he gently kissed the heart, and set it into his chest, pinching his hide over it until his natural healing could kick in.

It was at that precise moment that Baron understood just how much pain Haru had been suffering from. He gripped his chest, an agonized moan passing through his lips.

Then the world began to dance and sway in his vision. He lay down next to Haru on the snow, and took her by the hand. "Let whatever will be, be," he whispered, just before passing out.

He didn't know if he would ever wake up, but the thing that comforted him was that he was _certain _that Haru's hand had begun to move against his.

'_I love you.'_


	34. Love

**Chapter Thirty Four: Love**

_Death was amazingly peaceful. It was like being caught inside a vast silver mist, one that stretched into eternity. She tried to move, but found that her soul was frozen solid. If she still had lungs, she would have sighed in resignation. _

'_**If this is all death is going to be, I'm going to go crazy with boredom!'**_

_Then, almost like her words had triggered a reaction, the center of her soul heaved. Freed from her frozen state, Haru held both hands to where her heart was supposed to be. She didn't feel the way she had felt her whole life. It was like… something was healing her. But what?_

_As her chest continued to pulse, a door began to creak open in her mind. Her mouth opened in horror, and tried to shut the door._

_It was already too late. A banshee-like wail of despair rang through the mist as her mind became drowned in terrible images. She was dancing alone, begging with her whole heart for her royal father to just __**look **__at her. She could hear the terrible speech he gave, the one time she actually ran to him for help._

_The murders were the worst of all. She had spared no one in her madness, even the innocent children that loved playing in the royal gardens. _

_Haru screamed in silent horror as her mind forced her to relive her sisters' death. There had been __**nothing **__to keep her madness in check. All the pain, all the blood, the lives she destroyed… there was no escaping her guilt._

_She opened her mouth to scream Baron's name, but she no longer had a voice box. She was on her own for this fight._

_The raging monster inside of her seemed to pause for a mere second, as Baron's features flittered through Haru's mind._

_Sensing a way to freedom, she began fighting back. For every one of her father's rejections, she recalled Baron's heart-melting smile. The monster bombarded her with various atrocities, but she held onto Baron's memory like a rock in the storm._

_His voice… his touch… the way he always managed to be around when she needed him. How he always knew just the right thing to say. When she thought that might grow too repetitive, she unleashed the endless love she had for the cat doll._

_Her memories and emotions seemed to be confusing the monster beyond words, because the terrible images stopped. Instead, there came a timid, curious probing._

_Haru relaxed, and started running through her best memories. She remembered the first time she won an award for her technique, and all the times she would dance in the rain, the snow, and even the fog._

_Realizing that the pain in her heart was completely gone, Haru started dancing in the mist to emphasize her point. She closed her eyes; not out of habit, but to better visualize the memories that could save her. _

_She remembered her mother, and how she would rock her gently while crooning the lullaby that wouldn't let her forget about her sisters. Oh, her sweet, sweet sisters… _

_Whatever was keeping her company was no longer a monster. She could feel it quiver happily as she remembered when she had first met her sisters, or in Ahiru's case, when she __**realized **__that the cute duck was really her poor little sister. Again, she let her love flow through her mind like a thick, warm blanket. Her sweetheart and her sisters; her greatest treasures._

_That thought made her strange companion hesitate, and then shyly offer some memories of its own._

_With a start, Haru could see her sisters, aged five and seven, dancing together in the royal garden with her. All three of them were giggling and having fun in each others' presence._

_She bit back a sob of joy and pain as her companion showed her more images of her sisters, her heart aching again as the years and the prince drove them apart._

_Before their deaths were reached, the memories stopped, and she could feel a desperate probing. Knowing what her companion wanted, Haru offered more memories of her sisters; alive and whole. She was sad that she had only gotten to see Ahiru as a human for a few seconds, but the companion was grateful for even that small piece._

_Her hand suddenly smacked against something hard and metal. If she were still alive, it would have hurt terribly. She opened her eyes in surprise, only to find a tall silver mirror, standing in the mist for no apparent reason. It was beautifully wrought, with gilded flowers on the frame._

_Haru slowly stepped in front of the mirror, slightly scared at what would be on the other side of it._

_It was her, but at the same time was not. Her hands were curled timidly over her chest, while her reflection was pressed the glass, her silver-tinged eyes wide and eager._

'_**Princess… Kokoro?' **__Haru asked in her mind, since one apparently couldn't speak in this limbo._

_Her reflection nodded, staring at her worshipfully. __**'Yes. That was me, long ago.'**_

_Feeling a little strange, Haru reached up with one hand, and pressed it over the same place that her past self had her hand._

_They both felt a jolt that sent life and warmth through their veins. Haru flinched, but Kokoro exulted._

'_**Dost thou understand what this means?'**__ she asked her modern counterpart, who shook her head in shock._

_The Queen of Ice and Chaos smiled, tears freezing to her cheeks. __**'Thou canst return to thy life, but we must be joined in full before thou canst leave this place.'**_

_Haru's heart filled with horror. __**'We're not going to go on another rampage, are we?'**_

_Kokoro shook her head, opening her mouth for a silent sigh. __**'Nay, fair one. When we are joined, you will be the dominant one, for this body was born yours.'**_

'_**Why are you content with that?' **__Haru couldn't help but ask._

_The look of pain began to return to those silver-tinged orbs. __**'I have known so little love in my own life, and thou has achieved that which I had always longed for.'**_

_Haru smiled gently. __**'A kind-hearted immortal that adores me?'**_

'_**In part. Thou hast respect, even in kingdoms outside our own. Thou hast my beloved sisters, safe and whole. Thou hast the love-filled life I have always wished for. Please, allow us to join, that I may take some small part in your joy.'**_

_Haru stared at her past self, and bit her lip nervously. __**'If we do, will you promise not to overwhelm me again?'**_

'_**It will be outside my power to do so. Thou wilt know everything I do, including our magic.' **__Kokoro gave a melting smile, although her eyes were still filled with ancient pain. __**'But I will admit to another motive; thou art not only me, but mine descendant. I never got a chance to truly be with my daughter, and no amount of time would be enough to spend with my beloved sisters. Please,' **__she begged once again, sliding into a heap at the bottom of the mirror as silent tears streamed down her face._

_Haru sighed, kneeled next to the mirror, and placed both her hands on the glass._

_Eagerly, Kokoro placed her hands where her counterpart's were._

ooOoo

The following jolt was powerful enough to make her eyes snap open and sit up from the blanket she had been wrapped in. An explosive gasp escaped her throat, and she panted a bit from the terrible scare.

She was immediately attacked on her right, by a human Ahiru.

"You came back! You came back!" she wept, nearly strangling her sister in her happiness.

Haru grinned painfully, and gave her little sister a warm bear hug. "I almost didn't, Little Sis. Kokoro really knew how to put up a fight."

They were still in the cave, and she could spot just the tiniest bit of sunlight filtering through the cave's opening. She looked down, to notice that Baron had been tucked into the same blanket she had.

He was wide awake, and tears of relief spilled from his eyes. It was surprising that he managed to restrain himself long enough for both of her sisters to hug her first, drenching the neck her fancy dress in their tears.

But even Baron's willpower could only hold out for so long. After a few minutes, he gently pried her from Rue's possessive grasp, and locked her into a warm embrace. "Don't you _ever _scare us like that again, love."

She shook her head happily, and firmly pressed her lips against his. "Baron Humbert von Gikkingen," she said rather formally, making his green eyes flicker with worry. "You may have thought that you did the wrong thing by loving me, but you know what? I've seen a life without you to hold me together, and it isn't something I want to repeat. If I didn't have your memory in death, Kokoro's madness would have overwhelmed me and I wouldn't have made it back." She kissed him quickly on the lips with a wicked grin.

"I don't know how I'm still here, but I want you to know I'm not going anywhere for a _very _long time. Sorry, but it looks like you're stuck with me."

Baron's glorious eyes overflowed with tears as he kissed her again. "I think I could live with that, love."

"Hey, what about us?" Muta demanded as he tried to wiggle through the bodies barricading him from Haru.

Toto had a remark ready for him, and within seconds, ridiculous insults could be heard echoing through the cave.

ooOoo

Mytho paced outside of his chambers, constantly looking at the door with a worried expression.

Fakir laughed at his friend's fears. "You shouldn't have to worry, you know. Rue's a healthy young woman; she'll come out of this just fine."

Another scream resonated from the room, making them all jump in surprise.

"In one piece, more or less," he added with a nervous laugh, resuming his chess game with Baron.

The immortal was holding his chin thoughtfully, his adopted daughter on his lap to keep her from sneaking into the room.

"Move that piece, zura!" she giggled, pointing at a rook in the corner.

"As you wish," he complied with a smile, shifting the white piece across the board.

Fakir stared in shock. "How did I _not _see that one coming," he groaned, settling a pawn into a defensive position.

"How can you two remain so _calm_?" Mytho asked them with disgust. "I'm about to become a father any second, and you two are worrying about a silly game!"

"It is most certainly _not _a silly game," Baron informed him stiffly. "Chess is a good training tool when it comes to strategy. Those who are obvious on the battle field usually end up dead."

Mytho sighed tiredly, and took a glance at the board. "You shouldn't have moved that pawn, Fakir. You left your king wide open."

"What, how?" Fakir demanded.

Baron grinned, and swiftly moved his queen across the board, to rest directly in front of the king. "Like that, sir knight. Would another round restore your dignity?" he asked with a wicked smile, making Uzura giggle with delight.

Her usual clownish clothes had been replaced with an adorable dress, hand-sewn by her adoptive mother.

"I doubt it," Fakir laughed, putting his hands into a defeated gesture. "If I were playing against my wife, I'd win within five moves, but you're a master."

Mytho rolled his eyes at the old game between the two, and went back to pacing the floor nervously.

Perhaps half an hour later, the royal physician opened the door, and urged the newly crowned king to come inside. Mytho did so eagerly, making the doctor shake his head good-naturedly as a chuckle escaped his throat.

"Can we assume the birth was a safe one?" Baron asked politely, standing up while keeping Uzura in one arm.

"You may. We now have a little princess, and the queen is doing just fine." He smiled warmly, and moved to the side so that the two men could enter.

Fakir ran in first, and immediately went to his redheaded bride, kissing her once on the cheek. Thanks to her share of the family curse, Ahiru still couldn't tell him how much she loved him. Luckily for her, he already knew. Together, they took a good look at the little princess, nestled safely in a lacy white blanket.

She had fine dark red curls, and a beautifully perfect face. But she was sleeping, so no one could tell what her eye color was.

Rue looked exhausted, but happy as her husband held both her and their daughter in his embrace. "Hello, Baron. Care to greet the newest addition to the family?"

"Of course. Hello, little one," he said softly, kissing the tiny child's forehead.

She wrinkled her face as his whiskers tickled her, but she did not awaken.

Baron chuckled, and turned his attention to the last woman in the room, Uzura escaping his arms to get a better look at the baby. He walked around the bed, and enfolded the young woman in a fervent embrace.

She brushed her lips against his, tears of happiness escaping her eyes. "Isn't she beautiful?" Haru sighed happily, briefly pointing a finger at her niece.

Baron nodded, stealing another kiss from his beloved wife. "They all are, love. They all are, including you."

She blushed happily, and looked at her new niece, currently wrapped up in the bit of lace she had started making for her mother. "So, have you two decided on a name yet?" she teased.

"Not exactly," Rue said sheepishly, smiling tiredly. "I wanted to name her after you or Ahiru, but do you have any idea how many parents are naming their girls after us, after Paulamoni named her little girl after you? I don't want **my **little girl to get mixed up with half the girls in ballet class. Learning will be hard enough, thanks all the same."

"We _were _going to use Neko, if our little princess had been a prince," Mytho admitted, only slightly more at ease with his sister-in-law then when they had met almost a year before. "But with a little girl, I'm at a loss. Neko doesn't feel right for her."

Haru smiled sympathetically, although there was still that bit of dislike against him. She looked at her niece, suddenly realizing that the baby looked exactly like the one she had given up, in her memories as Queen Kokoro. She had gotten better at repressing those memories, but now there was one that actually proved useful.

"You could name her after Mom," Haru offered.

Rue looked up at her curiously. "What was her name again?"

"Naoko," Baron reminded her gently. "It's been passed through your family every few generations for centuries."

The young queen looked down at her child, and smiled. "What do you think, love? I rather like it."

The king nodded after a moment. "It's a good family name. I'll tell the royal clerk as soon as he comes back."

Baron smiled in contentment, picking up his slim wife long enough to steal her chair, and sit her on his lap.

Always eager for her chance, Uzura squealed with delight as she jumped from the bed and into Haru's waiting arms.

Haru leaned back into her husband's arms, and just watched the happy scene unfold. Her lips were curved into a gentle smile of contentment as she cradled her adoptive daughter, and sighed happily.

There was still a lot that neither she nor her husband understood. Like, whether or not she was an immortal now, or if Baron was a mortal. She had no idea if she would stop aging, or if Baron would eventually die with her.

And yet… those questions didn't seem as important as they used to. What was going to happen would eventually happen, and there was nothing she could do about it, except live life to its fullest.

And she had every intention of doing so, for as long as she could.

"Are we gonna go back to the Refuge, zura?" her daughter asked, playing with her size-adjustment medallion, which matched the ones that both her parents wore.

"No, sweetheart," Haru said with a gentle smile. "We're going to help your aunt for a while. Besides, I want some time to spoil my niece."

"As if spoiling our daughter wasn't enough for you," Baron teased, kissing her neck softly.

She giggled, and playfully batted his face away. "Oh, I love you, Baron!"

His heart, now inside her chest, fluttered around like a butterfly at her words. He grinned, and swept her into a low dip so that he could kiss her again, never mind that a giggling Uzura was still in her arms.

"I love you too, Haru."

ooOoo

Lots of love goes to; Kitani, The GamerSwordsman, YAYfanfics101, Chantal, fringeperson, Yoru-101, mizgardenia21, inujisan, Bloodsong, CaptainBillyTheWerewolf, aznchocoholic, kittydemon18, Bambi4ever, sailor star rainbow, laurashrub, splattermusic, Nonimouse, Yuna-and-Stefie, Raika Saotome, Savannah Cullen, Crazymusician22, Rini's Ghost, II Yuna-chan II, cutekoala, Drifting One, fireboltcrazed, Little Minamino, Bushi-Ishia, Ducklin, Nanenna, Anonomous-Allstar-Fan, Darkness' Forbidden Scribe, ChocolateBunnyChan, EagleBlaze, Casitatis, Elvin Magi, Stacey, Guess., kari910, Love it, Lithium-Flower, question?, Utsuro, cwizumi, TimeTraveler008, zara2148, Kumi knako, shatatomyo, The Spiked Dragon, Lorie-Sama, ThePureLily, Wanderer D, Icefyre01, Kakashi's-lil'-sis, Shatoma, YuumiBat, Megii of Mysteri OusStranger, fan, liz, Kuki200, Lithium, EtherealSympathy, spoiledpuppy, QuickStar, Raye of the Sunshine, Brietta-Cerdwin, Silence Navarathna, Marlene00891, LeafeKnight7, and xTenshixShinigamix for all the love and support they've given me through my longest story yet. I love you guys, even if spell check doesn't, mwa ha ha!

I'll be honest; the real reason I wrote this story was because I wanted a scene where Neko-sensei chases Haru all over the school grounds while she screams "Not again!" It didn't quite work out, but oh well. As I was thinking about a plotline for this story, and watching bits and pieces of Princess Tutu, I noticed almost immediately that although there are a lot of birds in that anime, Ahiru was the only one that had human eyes; why? If she weren't really a duck, then who was she? Who were Rue's parents, and how come you never see them except for a small clip near the end of the series? Why couldn't Ahiru get just a little bit of happiness; why did she have to give up everything?

Then as I thought about Haru having a missing sister (Rue), I remembered a short story I had read some time ago. In 'The Book of Enchantments' by Patricia Wrede, there was a story called 'Cruel Sisters'. It was about three princesses, but from the middle one's point of view as the older and younger sister conspire against each other to win a suitor. The youngest one dies, maybe or maybe not at the oldest one's hands, and the oldest one is convicted and sent away, leaving the middle one all alone to send the shallow suitor away. But the story didn't really tell more about the middle sister, and after what happened to the other two, it wouldn't have made sense for her to live happily ever after.

For some reason, that formula worked amazingly well in blending the two animes into one solid sequel. Think about it; Rue, Haru, and Ahiru. Other than Ahiru's hair color, the three sisters even looked like the ones from 'Cruel Sisters'. I couldn't resist. Oh, and the part where Kokoro turns into all sorts of things to try escaping Baron was taken from a fairy tale (can't remember the name of it) where a girl's sweetheart was taken by the Fair Folk, and the only way she could get him back was by holding onto him when the Queen changes him into anything she could to get her to let go of him.

Mytho, Rue, Fakir, Ahiru, and almost all of the residents of Kinkan Town belong to the Princess Tutu genre. Cat R. Waul (aka Wally), Chula, and the gang of cats was from American Tale; Fieval Goes West (random thought; I thought that version of Tanya looked just a shade like Haru). Haru, Baron, Toto, and Muta belong to the Cat Returns genre. The only characters that are completely mine are filler people that never got a name, like the realtor, the cooks, and most of the students.

I'd love to own Baron, though…

Oh, right. The next story;

_What sort of secrets could the Angel of Music be hiding?_

There were a lot of people begging that I do a story like this, so I hope it sounds a little familiar.

Lots of love,

YC


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